The 2019 Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) just wrapped up its inaugural season with the new ASB1000 superbike category and our very own Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman was crowned the first-ever ARRC Superbike Champion in Buriram, Thailand yesterday! (more…)
Guy Martin Triumph will replicate the scene of Steve McQueen’s character jumping a Triumph over the fences in “The Great Escape.”
However, he will attempt it on the new Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE, instead of the classic TR6. The new bike has better power, frame and suspension to go with it, but the technical crew will upgrade the suspension in some ways to cushion the landing, just like in the movie.
The stunt will take place on 8th December, so stay tuned.
In the 1963 movie, Captain Virgil (played by McQueen) attempted to break out of a German Nazi POW camp. He got his hands on a “BMW R75” but was soon surrounded by German troops as he tried to escape from a town. The only way out was past a series of lower fences and the main 4m (12 feet) perimeter fence.
The image of him and bike suspended mid-air, clearing the fence became so famous that it even graced everything from t-shirts to song album covers – all propounding about freedom from oppression.
Truth is, the bike was a Triumph TR6 which was dressed up to look like a BMW R75. The R75 was rare in those days after the war and when the film was shot. Also, it was McQueen’s stuntman buddy Bud Ekins who made the infamous jumps.
However, we’d like to add that both McQueen and Ekins compete on TR6s in a number of rallies and winning them.
These were the reasons why Triumph introduced the commemorative Bonneville McQueen and Bonneville Ekins.
When it comes to the world of motorcycle Grand Prix racing, the biggest legend of them all has to be none other than the great Giacomo Agostini. With a grand record of 15 world championship title, 123 Grand Prix victories, 18 Italian championship titles, and 10 TT wins, you’ll need a complete museum tour guide to go through his massive wins racked up over the years. (more…)
Everybody makes mistake. Marc Marquez, Valentino Rossi, Fabio Quartararo certainly do it. So, do you and me. But it’s learning from those mistakes that’ll make us better riders.
But it’s what we do about those mistakes that make us better riders, regardless if we’re the 8-time world champion or the daily commuter. It’s this learning process that gets me up every morning to search for something new to discover. In fact, it’s what’s driven me still love motorcycles for the past 31 years.
You see, traffic conditions tomorrow may not be the same as today’s. Certain drivers could be crankier on Mondays, mellower in the middle of the week, reckless on Fridays, and relaxed to the stage of negligence during the weekend. Or you know that they couldn’t see you in their side mirrors on rainy days.
These are some of the things we need to learn as bikers – in the interest of safety. If you critique the way you ride on a constant basis by asking yourself questions, it will make you a better rider. Start asking yourself, “Why did I almost overshoot that corner?” or “How come the rear tyre wants to skid all the time,” or “Why do I have so many close calls every time I ride?” Well, you won’t become a better rider automatically. We don’t live in the Matrix where we could download skills into our brains. But asking those questions is the first step in encouraging you to learn more on how to ride better and safer.
To illustrate, we asked Cal Crutchlow a question during the Malaysian MotoGP last year. “Don’t you riders get scared after crashing so much?” He was with GP legend Randy Mamola at the time, and both of them answered, “It’s scarier when you don’t know why you crashed. We need to learn why we crashed so we can ride better and get better results.”
Cal certainly crashed a lot, but Marquez crashed even more as he pushed to discover the limits all the time.
We’re not telling you to crash to learn. Instead, do evaluate your riding and get some advice. But, get advice from who have gone through formal training for that advice. Do NOT get advice from a buddy just because rides faster than you. Instead, if rides faster than you BECAUSE he had attended advance riding classes, he’s the one you go to for riding advice.
Better yet, sign up for advance riding classes. There are a number of good ones in Malaysia. Google them.
The biggest problem with Malaysians generally, is their laziness to read and perform some research. My late father would bring me to the public library. I spent large chunks of my salary to buy books and magazines when I began working – all because I wanted to know more about bikes and how to ride them properly.
Today, you can get all these for free by tapping out the keywords in Google or YouTube. And yet, some people are still too lazy to even search. So, these people would make the same mistakes on and on, for example using slick tyres on public roads, using components that are of no benefit, or even using the wrong engine oil.
However, there are a number of books you should own for reference at any time such as Keith Code’s Twist of the Wrist Vol. 2; or Nick Ienatsch’s Sport Riding Techniques: How to Develop Real World Skills for Speed, Safety and Confidence on the Street and Track; or Lee Park’s Total Control. Even the Dummies’ Guide to Motorcycles isn’t bad. It’s important to start somewhere.
Another enemy of bikers is their ego which their bodies can’t cash (to borrow a line from Top Gun, but not paraphrasing). There’ve been so many times that we’ve met riders who took our advice as criticism, instead of something positive. There’s no place for ego in motorcycling. Ego gets you killed.
So, learn. Being a smarter rider is one of the fun parts of motorcycling.
The BMW R18 is now heading into production and will be fully revealed in 2020.
While the running prototypes look great, it’s the engine that proves to be the biggest intrigue. That’s because at 1802cc, it’s the largest Boxer (horizontally opposed-twin) ever made, consequently how will BMW contain all that heft and make it work.
Wonder no more because BMW has released the technical specs.
First and foremost, the engine produces 91 bhp at 4,750 RPM and 158 Nm of torque at 3,000 RPM. Although oversquare in architecture with 107.1 mm x 100 mm bore and stroke, BMW claims that more than 150 Nm of that torque is already available from 2,000 to 4,000 RPM meaning that it’s made for cruising, not high-speed blasting unlike the Ducati Diavel. The cylinder bores are Nikasil coated (nickel matrix silicon carbide).
Each cylinder head houses two steels valves – one 41.2 mm intake and one 35 mm exhaust – in OHV (overhead valves) configuration. The camshafts sit higher on either side of the crankshaft and driven by a chain. The cam lobes operate the pushrods that pushe the rocker arms to open and close the valves, in turn. An OHC (overhead cam) design would make the cylinders even longer (since they’re laid down horizontally) and limiting lean angles.
With such huge pistons and conrods moving back and forth there’s bound to be vibration. BMW addressed this by bolstering the crankshaft with a central main bearing which cuts down on bending forces.
The powerplant is air and oil-cooled, as per the classic Boxers but also because liquid-cooling will add more heft. It already weighs 110.8 kg including the transmission and intake system. An oil-cooler is standard fitment.
BMW reverted to a single-disc dry clutch for the R18. It’s feature on all BMW Boxers prior to the wasser-head (liquid-cooled or “LC”) Boxer in 2012. However, the R18’s clutch is “self-reinforcing” (self-servo which compresses the clutch plate to the friction plate when running, resulting in softer clutch pull) and anti-hop (slipper clutch) functions.
But guess what? BMW offers a reverse gear option.
Apart from that, the manufacturer also revealed that the shaft final drive will be kept exposed just like the classic R-series bikes of yore.
There are many other details, of course but those above are the most common ones that most riders would like to know.
So apart from being a modern engine with classic touches, the design itself is pretty interesting. It looks really art-deco especially with that large cover up front and aerofoils on the cylinder head covers.
It looks like the Honda CT125 is headed into production.
The prototype bike was first shown at the Tokyo Motor Show but could be sold under a different name. Bennets UK reported that the manufacturer had trademarked the “Trail 125” and “Hunter Cub” names in the US.
The bike is based on the Super Cub 125 which our sister site Motomalaya.net reviewed a few months back. The four-stroke, single-cylinder engine produces 9.5 bhp, sent through a 4-speed gearbox. As the name suggests, and to highlight the bike’s vocation, it’ll be fitted with chunky knobby tyres on wire spoke rims. The CT125 will also receive a substantial pressed-steel frame instead of the Super Cub’s steel-tube chassis. The exhaust is also placed high a la scramblers.
In fact, the CT125 is an homage to the Honda Cub off-road line-up in the 60s. You’ve probably seen a few running around in Malaysia or hiding in a shed.
We hope it’ll make its way to Malaysia. It’s definitely one cut off-roader!
