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Most Interesting Biker: Finding Shangri La on a Harley-Davidson Nightrod

Continuing on with our Most Interesting Biker (MIB) series, we caught up with Malaysia actor and entrepreneur, Jehan Miskin.

There are lots of celebrity bikers in Malaysia, both male and female, and we hope to be able to write about them all as we go along, but Jehan is a dear friend to us so all it took was a Whatsapp message explaining the MIB series and a reply saying, “sure, want me to bring my bike?”

How could this guy not make this list?

It is also funny to think that someone who never learned to ride a bicycle would eventually end up riding Harley-Davidsons to places most people don’t ever visit, what more on a Harley-Davidson.

Jehan with his brother Sean on a Kawasaki Z750

“I never learned to ride a bicycle as a kid,” he said over coffee in Empire Damansara.

“My brothers and sisters all learned but not me. I remember being 11 or 12 and crashing my brothers bicycle at the backroad of my terrace house in SS2. I fell in the drain and the bicycle looked like it had been crashed, but I learned to ride a bicycle on my own eventually.”

Testing the electric Harley-Davidson Livewire

The big switch to motorcycles came at 14, an era Jehan describes as “zaman mat moto.” That was the period of the Kawasaki Victors, Yamaha TZMs, RX-Z and the Kawasaki KIPS. But his first bike was the tiny but fun 125cc, two-stroke Cagiva Mito. After that and for many years he didn’t have a bike as he focused on developing his video production business.

But the calling came eventually, just as it always does. Jehan was invited to attend a Harley-Davidson event which required some riding. Being more of a sports bike kind of person, he says he didn’t think much of the Harleys, until he saw a Nightrod.

Video: The ride to Shangri La in China

The bike belonged to a customer who agreed to let Jehan ride it to a movie premiere, up north and eventually sold the bike him.

“I have a lot to thank Awie* for in that decision to eventually buy the Nightrod. The owner had let me ride the bike to an event in Perak, so when I met Awie I told him about my experience and showed the bike to him. Awie told me to change the handle bars and gave me a piece of advise I didn’t forget, and so I went and bought the Nightrod,” says Jehan.

*Yes, that Awie

He rode it around town for a few years first, hung around with the Harley Owners Group, and never really went on long distance rides. Until the Asia Harley Days in Thailand came along, and that was it. The tour riding bug had hit, fast forward a few years and Jehan and some mates are conquering Chinese roads in search of the real Shangri-La, not the five star hotel.

He has taken the bike where no Harley-Davidson Nightrod owners would go, and there were places where the bike wasn’t even designed to go, like the twisting mountains of Laos, and the dirt roads of Thailand. Places a BMW GS or a Kawasaki Versys would feel more at home on, not a Nightrod.

“I have always been a superbike kind of guy, but I had a pact with my brother to never own or ride a superbike. They are really fast bikes, and our mother and sister were completely against the idea, so to keep things cool we decided to agree on a pact to ride, but not on a superbike.”

Jehan’s brother eventually got on a superbike but not before promising his younger brother all kinds of things.

Video: Road of 1000 corners in Mae Hong Son, Thailand

“And so I felt that the Harley Nightrod was one of the few bikes that could give me the performance of a superbike without being a superbike. I have always appreciated a Harley but never really wanted one, but the Nightrod is cool enough, dragster enough, powerful enough, a hybrid between a cruiser and a superbike.” – Jehan.

At a Sabah road trip for a local TV show

After our meet in Empire Damansara, Jehan went on another ride to northern Thailand for Songkran and to Bangkok to hook up with Harley owners over there. Spending over two weeks on the road, the Nightrod once again was the weapon of choice.

Harley V-Rods at Songkhla Beach, Thailand

“Riding has evolved to be more than just speed for me. It is about friendship and it is about getting away. There is escapism in riding, adventure you can’t get anywhere else. When you ride long distance, you are in a new town everyday. It is about being on the road and not worrying about anything else but the road, that is why I ride,” concludes Jehan.

Great deals on Harley bikes this weekend

Harley-Davidson of Kuala Lumpur is organising a weekend of great deals on its bike and fun times for your family.

The weekend of the 23rd and 24th of April, H-D KL is celebrating the Harley-Davidson “Mania Carnival” at its headquarter in Petaling Jaya, and it is open to everyone from 10am till 6pm.

In a statement to the media, H-D KL says fans of the H-D brand and its lifestyle are strongly encouraged not to miss the two-day event as there will be great deals on H-D bikes with special offers on some very special bikes.

There will also be special prices for H-D merchandise and accessories for H-D bikes.

There will also be special entertainment areas for the family and for the kids with refreshments, cotton candy and balloons.

The Harley-Davidson “Mania Carnival” is definitely something not to be missed by Malaysian H-D fans.

Harley-Davidson introduces new Roadster

Harley-Davidson has just introduced it’s latest addition to the Sportster family, and calls it the Roadster.

The new Roadster has been stripped down with a minimalist design with only the “essential elements of a pure riding machine,” as Harley so eloquently put it.

The new Roadster also marks the continuation of a legend that began when the Sportster was first introduced back in 1957. The Sportster is also the longest continuously produced motorcycle in the world, and it is not about to lose steam.

The new Roadster will join Harley’s Dark Custom line-up with a design inspired by the barebones classic racing motorcycles and the latest trend in simple, basic, ‘naked’ builds.

The new Roadster may not look very different than older Sportsters, especially the Iron range, but there is a lot that is new; the Roadster gets new exclusive 5-spoke cast aluminium wheels and tyres (the front are 120/70 R19, the rear is 150/70 R18) and are mated to a new rear suspension and a front fork which is now set at a steeper angle. Harley says the 19-inch front and 18-inch rear wheels together with the revised suspension will deliver better ground clearance. The seat however is still set low at just 785mm.

The brakes are also new with dual 300mm floating discs up front with ABS-enabled twin-piston callipers, and a 260mm rear disc with a twin-piston caliper. The low-rise handlebar is also new while the mid-mount foot controls are supposed to centre the rider’s weight, while the fuel tank is the same 12.5-litre Sportster fuel tank.

Visually, keen Harley fans will notice that the rear fender is shorter than before while a drilled and slotted belt guard and exhaust shields seem to mimic the lightening holes in a race bike. Also new is a single four-inch clock up front tucked low in front of the triple clamp. The meter has also been changed from the usual analogue speedo, to a large analogue tacho, and a digital panel for the speedometer and other information.

The new Harley-Davidson Roadster will be available in the US in June in four colours together with a wide range of custom parts in the official Harley-Davidson catalogue. The bike shown here features a modified bike with blacked-out exhausts, a new seat, rider footrests, transmission and engine cases, blacked-out heads, removable numberplate hanger, new bar grips, mirrors, darkened indicators, a new fuel cap and a performance air filter.

Features
1200cc Evolution engine
Premium emulsion technology rear suspension with screw-style pre-load adjustment
43mm inverted front forks with premium cartridge dampening technology and triple clamp design
Dual disc front brakes with ABS
Optimised steering geometry for a responsive, confidence-inspiring ride
Two-up seat with ribbed detail and minimalist styling
Lightweight offset-split 5-spoke Cast Aluminium wheels – 19in front, 18in rear
Mid-mount footpeg controls
Chopped front and rear fenders
Low rise handlebar
Nual-function clock
Finned cast timer cover
Custom tank graphics

Petron Malaysia hosts high performance road trip

Petron Malaysia conducts second Petron Fuel Happy Road Trip featuring new Petron Blaze 100 Euro 4M high-performance fuel.

In just a few short years since it formally broke into the Malaysian market in 2011, Petron Malaysia Refining and Marketing Bhd (Petron Malaysia) has grown in both size and reputation amongst many local consumers. The peak of which was reached earlier this year when the firm launched its revolutionary Blaze 100 Euro 4M series of high-octane fuels.

The firm recently put its new flagship high-octane fuel to the ultimate test when it was tasked at fuelling the excitement of the second ever Petron Fuel Happy Road Trip 2016 organised especially for consumers, guests and media partners. The two-day road trip held last weekend to Puteri Harbour, Johore.

Unlike its previous Fuel Happy Road Trip 2015 last year to Penang, this year’s southbound outing was bigger in both size and collective horsepower figures as Petron Malaysia also hosted members of both the Porsche Club of Malaysia (PCM) and the Lotus Cars Club of Malaysia during this time around.

Both car clubs and their vehicles fuelled up using Petron’s revolutionary new high-octane fuel throughout the two-day drive. This granted drivers of both clubs with a first experience of the new high-octane fuel’s performance in sating the demands of both themselves and their high performance vehicles as well.

Also on board this year were Volkswagen Group Malaysia (VGM) and PLUS Highway’s Workshop on Wheels (WoW). VGM supplied a fleet of Volkswagen Passat saloons that were helmed by invited media partners, customers and guests. The fleet of VW Passats acted as the perfect test-bed for drivers to gauge the fuel’s performance thanks to the German marque’s highly efficient TSI powerplant powering the Passat.

Petron Malaysia’s head of corporate affairs and Zaimi Harun was present to flag the trip off in the Dengkil R&R Southbound Petron station that featured a total of 60 drivers this year. Speaking on behalf of Petron Malaysia’s head of retail Puan Faridah Ali about the drive’s mission, Zaimi explained:

“We want our customers to feel the thrill of driving vehicles fuelled by Blaze 100 and from their reactions, our product exceeded expectations.”

He further added that since it was introduced back in January this year, the availability of the Petron Blaze 100 Euro 4M fuels have grown from just eight stations to 40 stations in total nationwide. Zaimi stated that this was the result of Petron Malaysia garnering strong and highly positive feedbacks from consumers who have switched to the high octane RON 100 grade fuel since it was launched.

To refresh your memory, the Euro 4M-spec RON 100 high-octane fuel by Petron is produced locally in Petron Malaysia’s refinery located in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan. Petron Blaze 100 also boasts a Tri-Activ formula that promises greater power and engine protection plus improved efficiency. On top of that, Petron Blaze 100 also contains an advanced fully synthetic detergent additive that offers enhanced engine cleaning abilities as well.

When it was launched earlier this year, Petron Blaze 100 fuel retailed at RM2.80 per litre. However, prices for the Euro 4M-spec RON 100 fuel isn’t regulated by the government, meaning that price revisions (if any) doesn’t necessarily take effect at the start of each month. But just for your information, Petron retails its Blaze 100 fuels at RM2.60 per litre at the time of writing.

The two-day road trip began first with a flag off for media, consumers and guests in their VW Passats from their starting points in Oasis Square, Ara Damansara to a rendezvous with the members of PCM and LCCM in the Southbound Dengkil R&R layby.

Besides the presence of the powerful performance machines by the two car clubs, high-octane excitement was also fuelled by the special go-kart challenges held in the Melaka International Motorsports Complex (MIMC) held on Day 1.

Various other contests, including social-media based photo contests and slogan-writing contests, were held throughout the first day and saw Petron Malaysia giving away plenty of prizes including thousands of Petron Miles points. Drivers were again treated on Day 2 with lunch and shopping excursion in the Johor Premium Outlets before heading back north towards Kuala Lumpur.

More information about Petron Malaysia, its current range of products, as well as current consumer campaigns can be obtained online via its official website, petron.com.my or its official Facebook page as well.

Officially official: Lorenzo moves to Ducati!

After weeks of speculation, it is officially official, reigning MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo will leave the Yamaha MotoGP team at the end of this season. The destination for Lorenzo is the Ducati factory team.

The following is an excerpt from Yamaha’s statement:

“Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. announces that its partnership with Jorge Lorenzo will be discontinued at the close of the 2016 MotoGP season, when Lorenzo will move on to new racing challenges,” read a Yamaha statement.

“Since Lorenzo joined the Yamaha Factory Racing Team in 2008, Lorenzo and Yamaha won three MotoGP World Championships (2010, 2012 and 2015), clinched 41 race wins and have been on the podium 99 times out of 141 races contested.

“Yamaha is extremely grateful for Jorge’s contributions to its racing successes and looks forward to sharing more memorable moments during the remaining 15 MotoGP rounds of 2016, their ninth season together.

“Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. wishes Lorenzo the very best in his future racing endeavours and reconfirms the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team’s full support on his campaign to achieve his fourth MotoGP title.

Ducati issued the following statement:

“Ducati announces that it has reached an agreement with Jorge Lorenzo thanks to which the Spanish rider will take part in the MotoGP World Championship in 2017 and 2018 aboard the Ducati Desmosedici GP of the Ducati Team.

“Lorenzo, born in Palma de Mallorca on 4 May 1987, has won five world championship titles throughout his racing career (250cc in 2006 and 2007 and MotoGP in 2010, 2012 and 2015).”

Why suddenly?

Ducati fishing for Lorenzo to don the colour red is nothing new, in fact the Italian team has been at it since 2009 but were turned down multiple times.

Now seems to be the right time for the greatest Spanish racer of all time to make his move.

Many feel that Lorenzo has achieved his best onboard the Yamaha M1, and that Lorenzo is not being perceived with the greatness he deserves.

The Ducati however seems to be primed to win, with both Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone having claimed podium finishes and pole positions, despite lacking the ‘racing sparkle’ that separates the Greats from the podium finishers.

Apparently Lorenzo also feels slighted that Rossi’s contract extension was announced first, instead of the reigning World Champion’s. This is being perceived as Yamaha placing more importance on The Doctor than on Lorenzo. The fact that Yamaha just announced a partnership with Rossi’s VR46 Riders Academy may also have a part to play in Lorenzo’s departure.

The musical chairs begin

What that means is that someone will have to take over his seat at Yamaha, and one of the Andreas at Ducati will have to vacate their seat.

Andrea Iannone won no favours when he took out both himself and Dovizioso just metres away from a podium finish for both riders in Argentina. And Dovi is also being perceived as the more cool headed one among the two Italians, so it is Dovi that is tipped to stay at Ducati.

Yamaha on the other hand has made no announcement or hinted at the rider to take over from Lorenzo, but it is the upcoming star at Suzuki, Maverick Vinales that is being tipped as the favourite to ride for Yamaha.

Can Lorenzo do what Rossi couldn’t?

There is no doubt that Lorenzo is one of the all-time greats, in his prime even Rossi was tested at almost every race. Lets not forget that this is the same guy who claimed a podium and second place finish on his debut race in 2008, and in 2010 won six races and never finished a race lower than second. He claimed the title with 383 points, a feat yet to be emulated.

Rossi on the other hand has a galaxy of achievements to his credit as well, but he couldn’t tame the Ducati before returning to Yamaha. If Lorenzo manages to win a race and more at Ducati, he could just clinch the coveted “Mr Popular” title that Rossi has had tor decades.

With the new Ducati Desmo race machine already showing signs of greatness, it seems likely that Lorenzo could just do what even the great Rossi couldn’t – tame a wild Ducati MotoGP race machine.

It is unlikely that Lorenzo will speak openly about Ducati until the end of the season, but if there is one thing for sure, the 2017 MotoGP season is going to be awesome!

Image Credits: MotoGP

Triumph Thruxton R – The Gentlemen Racer is Now in Malaysia – RM91,900

Hailed as the coolest motorcycle in the world, the Triumph Bonneville range in Malaysia has been refreshed to include the cool as ice, tough as nails, makes you want to ride hard and beat someone up, the top of the range Thruxton R.

Also introduced with the R are the Bonneville T120 and T120 Black, but just in case you were wondering which one we approve of, now you know.

We first got acquainted with the Thruxton R at the EICMA Motorcycle show in Milan, Italy last year, you can read the story here. The bike is a success at first sight, there is something weirdly appealing about a bike with a minimalistic design, huge power and lots of exposed steel.

Triumph-1 — The Thruxton R features classic cafe racer design, a big powerful engine, brilliant brakes, and Ohlins and Showa suspension.

The Thruxton R has been well received globally with positive reviews from the world’s motorcycling media. We will leave our opinion till we ride it locally, so the facts first.

The round headlights of the Thruxton R are an obvious nod to bikes of the early 90s.

An extension of the Triumph Bonneville range, the Thruxton R is a true to form cafe racer, a reincarnation of sorts of a successful motorcycle from the 50s and 60s that won a lot of local races in the UK. Though the new Thruxton R lacks that racing pedigree of its four fathers, it has the looks, and the power to match.

A big powerful engine now made more economical with liquid-cooling and selectable riding modes.

Powered by a 1200cc, 8-valve, parallel twin engine, the new liquid-cooled, ‘low-inertia-high performance’ engine puts out 97hp at 6,750rpm – 62% more than the previous Thruxton – and 152Nm of torque at just 4,950rpm – a stonking 62% more power than before.

Being a modern Triumph, it naturally comes with impressive levels of craftsmanship, with just the right amount of modern technology delivered in true-to-form simplicity.

Triumph-11 — Big Brembo brakes have received rave reviews from the world’s motorcycling media.

On the safety front, it comes with an ABS braking system, a ride-by-wire throttle system that also gives you three selectable riding modes – road, rain and sport. It also has traction control and a torque assist clutch, as well as a LED rear light, Daytime Running Lights (DRL) up front, an engine immobiliser and for the sake of convenience, a USB charging socket.

The incredible attention to detail and great build quality is typical of modern Triumphs.

The Thruxton R is offered here at RM91,900 without insurance and on-the-road costs.

And for those of us who prefer a bit more subtleness in the performance area but don’t want to miss out on the cool package – the Bonneville T120 and T120 Black are just the answer.

The T120 and the Black edition are a true throw back to the original Bonni from 1959.

Both the T120 and T120 Black are powered by the same 1200cc liquid cooled engine.

As with the Thruxton R, both offer the highest quality materials and finishing, gorgeous design lines and a big engine that does not pale too much in comparison with the top of the line Thruxton R.

Highlights for the Bonneville T120 and T120 Black are the LED rear lights.

The T120 and the Black edition make an equal 80hp at 6,550rpm – up 18% from the previous model, and 105Nm of torque – an amazing 54% increase in power. Power delivery is said to be linear with a six-speed gearbox providing crisp gear shifts.

Just like the Thruxton R, the detailing on both the Bonneville's is impeccable. — Just like the Thruxton R, the detailing on both the Bonneville’s is impeccable.

With its timeless design the only thing connecting both Bonni’s to the past, the T120 and the Black edition offer such pleasantries as ABS braking, ride-by-wire with 2 riding modes, torque-assist clutch, LED DRL headlights, LED rear light, a USB charging socket, among others.

The Black edition offers that and a dark brown seat, all-black detailing with black rims, basically black everything.

The only thing differentiating the T120 and the T120 Black are the all-black details and this brown seat.

Pricing for both the bonneville T120 and Bonneville T120 Black is at RM79,900 without insurance and on-the-road costs.

All three Triumph’s are available for viewing and booking at the flagship Triumph store in Petaling Jaya or you can visit the official Triumph Malaysia website by clicking here.

Triumph Bonneville T120 and T120 Black Image Gallery