There are many celebrities who ride but John Wick a.k.a. Keanu Reeves had his own brand of motorcycles.
He also owns a number of rare motorcycles.
His company Arch Motorcycle builds futuristic custom bikes.
There’s no secret that that John Wick a.k.a. Keanu Reeves er… or is it Keanu Reeves a.k.a. John Wick loves motorcycles. But what bikes does he own?
There are many celebrities who love motorcycles and actually ride instead of just posing with them. The list is long and distinguished including Tom Cruise, Ryan Reynolds, Ewan McGregor, Orlando Bloom, Bear Grylls, Pink, Justin Timberlake, Alanis Morissette, Bradley Cooper, Michael Fassbender, Hugh Laurie, Richard Hammond, Jay Leno, Brad Pitt, David Beckham.
But there is only one among them who owns his brand of motorcycles, and that’s John… er.. Keanu Reeves.
In this interview with GQ Magazine, gives us an insight to Reeves’ passion. He showed us the 1973 Norton Commando 850 MK2A which he bought in 1987. The second bike is the 2004 Ducati 998 Reloaded Edition which was the feature bike in The Matrix: Reloaded. Ducati presented him the bike after to commemorate the film, resplendent in dark green.
He also listed the movies that he rode in such as Chain Reaction, My Own Private Idaho, and the upcoming John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum. (We’ve featured the article about the film’s trailer where John Wick battles assassins on a fleet of Yamaha MT-09s.)
Over to the motorcycle brand he co-founds and co-owns, Arch Motorcycle. It began as a customization contract for a Harley Dyna Wide Glide. The bike became the prototype of the first Arch Motorcycle model – the KRGT-1. Arch Motorcycle produces more than 200 machined aluminium components for the bike themselves, and only outsources the suspension, exhaust and engine.
He also spoked about the company’s next model called the Arch 1S. The bike is a sportier version of the KRGT-1. Reeves went on to show the Method 143 concept which utilizes a carbon fibre monocell chassis.
What other bikes does Reeves hope to own? The 1955 Vincent Black Shadow and Brough Superior. He also hopes to ride a MotoGP bike.
A car driver caught the footage of a large group of motorcyclists on the East Coast Highway (LPT) pulling off this stupid stunt. The riders in the group seemed to relish in riding prone in each other’s slipstream to gain higher top speeds.
The poster also said that they refused to heed his warning after he sounded his horn. The video was posted to Info Roadblock and shared by another popular gossip portal. Consequently, it has since gone viral. This is not the way to achieve 15 seconds of fame. Predictably, Malaysians are well-known for their caustic comments including a few which threatened to “run over” such groups with their vehicles.
It’s a dangerous act to carry out even without blocking the traffic. A slip by one rider or a couple of guys hitting each other will send the whole group down. Needless to say, everyone will get hurt or worse, getting hit by other traffic. Say, a truck.
Not only that, it sullies the name of all motorcyclists. Drivers of other vehicles wouldn’t give a second wink to differentiate between the good guys and the bad guys: Everyone is the same! That’s the human nature to generalize everything he sees or hears about.
The Ösuspension is the latest in electronic suspension evolution. It not only performs the preset duties of semi-active suspensions of the past, but the rider could tune it to achieve different objectives.
The Objective Based Tuning Interface allows you to tune, for example:
Less fork dive when you brake for a corner.
Softer damping in the middle of the corner for more grip.
Harder rear shock when you accelerate out of the corner.
The suspension system’s ECU takes readings from the suspension movement, brakes, throttle and IMU (lean angle, yaw angle) to formulate a solution for the current riding mode. Besides that, it not only works on the suspension, it works on the electronic Öhlins steering damper, too.
The rider can switch the system to manual mode. The suspension will then react accordingly to the present modes – Track, Sport, Road – selected by the rider.
This system was first seen on the Ducati Panigale V4 and V4 S.
Unfortunately, the Tuono V4 has always flown under the radar when it comes to naked sportbikes for some reason. That’s a real shame because it offers the raw performance that most bikes have damped out these days. Even the much-vaunted beast – the KTM 1290 Super Duke R – has mellowed, but not the Tuono. And we haven’t started on the V4 soundtrack yet!
This bike is the very essence of why we love bikes in the first place. In other words, that ability to leave everything behind including supercars without needing to sell both your kidneys.
Malaysian women bikers are set to Women Riders World Relay (WRWR).
Ladies of Harley and Anita Yusof (part of GIVI Bella) are involved.
GIVI Asia sponsored helmets and backpacks to some of the participants.
The ride begins on 27thApril 2019 led by Ladies of Harley from HDPJ.
It used to be that women bikers are a novelty among the motorcycling community. But the Women Riders World Relay (WRWR) is set to change that perception.
The “event” seeks to unite women riders the world over, as women riders from one country hand over a GPS “baton” to those in another. The relay also transcends the different cliques and types of motorcycles.
Tina Sharman, the Ripple Rally Ambassador clarified on a number of details:
The main WRWR is a worldwide event and will reach Malaysia in August.
In the the Global Relay, a baton is passed from woman to woman while travelling by motorcycle through 80 countries on a round-the-world route.
As such, the Global Relay consists of long day rides and the majority of them on highways to cover as much distance as possible. It is so to cover the entire globe within 1 year.
Therefore, the Global Relay requires registration, fees and signed waiver to participate.
In the Global Relay, men can join as companions but are not allowed to carry the baton. Conversely, it is up to the teams to invite male riders to the Ripple Relay.
On the other hand, the Ripple Relay is more leisurely and planned around the individual or team’s schedule. The only objective is to pass the flag around within 1 year.
No registration and fees are required for the Ripple Relays. Teams are only expected to communicate with other teams to pass the flag. The handover will be photographed and shared on social media.
Thereby, in support of the main relay, “Ripple Relays” are held in each country where rides are conducted throughout the year.
Consequently, instead of using the GPS baton, the Ripple Rally will hand over the Malaysian flag among various Team Leaders or Women Riding Clubs while travelling through the country.
The Malaysian flag will ultimately travel to London in February 2020 for the WRWR closing ceremony.
As such, Malaysian women bikers are set to join the event which begins on 27thApril 2019. The inaugural ride will be led by the Ladies of Harley from Harley-Davidson of Petaling Jaya. They will ride through Melaka, to highlight the attractions in the state.
A preview to the Malaysian ride was hosted recently by GIVI Asia Sdn. Bhd. GIVI Asia has been active in supporting women bikers in the country, having hosted a ladies-only ride and camp not too long ago. In fact, GIVI Asia’s brand ambassador is none other than Anita Yusof who rode her motorcycle around the world.
Present at the preview were Anita, the Ladies of Harley and ladies of other motorcycle groups. Sam Sharman, the Marketing Manager of GIVI Asia handed over GIVI helmets and backpacks to those present.
Nor Cillia (left) with Sam Sharman
BikesRepublic.com interviewed a number of the ladies including Tina Sharman (as Ambassador of the Ripple Rally), Sue Rahman and Nor Cillia Omar (of Ladies of Harley), plus Anita Yusof (representing GIVI Bella).
Tina Sharman
BikesRepublic.com:Can you tell us a little bit more about WRWR? Tina Sharman:WRWR was set up by Hayley Bell in 2018 in the UK. It’s to highlight that there are more and more women bikers in the world. However, there’s still very little in terms of support for women bikers, especially when it comes to riding gear.
Sumai with Sam
You go into a shop and you’ll find the gear are all for men. Instead, there are maybe 2 pieces and invariably in pink!
WRWR is a relay but carried out on motorcycles. The batons are GPS trackers, but it isn’t a “linear” relay. Instead it’s a “ripple relay” (like how ripples in water propagate outwards) which covers all corners of the globe. Besides that, the different groups in Malaysia will hand over the Malaysian flag.
Sumai is now currently arranging the groups, there are close to 15 of them. As part of ripple relay, they will take their own routes on different dates so that the rides don’t overlap. The Malaysian ride covers both West and East Malaysia.
We want this unity among all women bikers. This is the best platform.
There are many different routes being planned to cover all states in Malaysia. For example, Sumai will lead the off-road group, while Anita leads the GIVI Bellas. In doing so, we will also highlight the beauty of Malaysia to the overseas riders.
BikesRepublic.com:How far will each group ride, at average? Anita Yusof:We encourage ladies on all types of bikes and engine capacities, including those on kapchais. But they are still willing to ride long distance and camp. Some routes are over Labour Day weekend, so it depends.
The longest route will start from Ipoh – Kedah – Penang – Perlis – Kelantan – Terengganu – Cameron Highlands (Pahang).
BikesRepublic.com: Is there another underlying theme behind your participation in WRWR besides sisterhood? Tina Sharman: It’s also to show what we can do. The women riding scene really started in 2016, so it shows how far we’ve come within three years.
We will also contribute towards charity during the WRWR rides.
BikesRepublic.com:As for you Anita, which group will you be heading? Anita Yusof:I’ll be leading GIVI Bella. Sam (Sharman) of GIVI Asia had organized ride and camp trips for guys. After my ride in Africa I decided to approach him and propose ride and camp trips for ladies as well. He liked the idea, since we are GIVI Explorer. The theme is Explore, Enjoy. This is the way to promote the lifestyle of exploring and riding.
For the WRWR, GIVI Bella will ride to Pangkor Island to camp. GIVI Bella covers all ladies on all motorcycles.
Sue Rahman with Sam
BikesRepublic.com: Chilla (Nor Chilla Omar), can you tell us more about Ladies of Harley’s role in WRWR? Nor Chilla Omar: We (Ladies of Harley) will be the first to start the ride and we are very excited. We are trying to gather as many women bikers as we can, regardless of what bike they ride. We would like this sisterhood to grow and that more ladies will start riding.
We plan to start the ride from Harley-Davidson of Petaling Jaya (HDPJ) on 27th April. We will then ride to landmarks around Kuala Lumpur. We are planning to ride to the Sepang International Circuit, for the ladies to ride on the circuit itself. From there, we are going to ride along the trunk roads to Pantai Klebang and into Melaka.
It’s a great opportunity to show may we have in Malaysia including the gastronomical delights! We hope to draw the attention of the world to Kuala Lumpur, Melaka and Malaysia.
Conclusion
So, ladies please block your calendars for the Women Riders World Relay! It’s going to be blast!
Shell Malaysia launched a new fuel storage tank and additional loading bay.
The move allows Shell Malaysia to meet the rising demand for Shell fuels in the Central region.
The tank has a 10 million litre capacity while the arms dispense 1,800 litres of fuel per minute.
Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn. Bhd. officially launched a new cutting-edge fuel storage tank and an additional loading bay at Westports, Port Klang. The expansion boosts Shell Malaysia’s capability in meeting the growing demand for Shell fuels in the Central region of Peninsular Malaysia.
The new tank, the tenth such facility owned by Shell at the terminal, was constructed under Phase 4 of the Shell Westports Terminal Expansion Plan. It was officially launched by Datuk Iain Lo, Chairman of Shell Malaysia and Datuk Ruben Emir Gnanalingam, Group Managing Director of Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd.
In addition to the new 10 million-litre storage tank, the expansion plan also included a new loading bay with six loading arms configured to dispense three key Shell fuel products – Fuelsave 95, V-Power 97 and Fuelsave Euro 5 Diesel – at a rate of 1,800 litres a minute. This increases the efficiency of loading processes for road tankers. The tankers now can be fully loaded in just 25 minutes, which significantly reduces the congestion at the Klang Valley Distribution Terminal (KVDT).
(L-R) Suresh Nair, Eddie Lee, Shairan Huzaini Husain, Datuk Iain Lo, Datuk Ruben Gnanalingam, Kevin Ranatunga launch Shell storage tank
“I am happy to announce that this new storage facility at Westport will enable Shell to meet the increasing demands for its products in Klang Valley. The efficient new facilities will enhance Shell’s competitiveness and ensure Shell’s ability to meet all customer needs,” said Datuk Iain Lo.
He also added that Shell has been fuelling Malaysia’s progress for the past 128 years and will continue to invest in strengthening its presence in the country by offering not just top-quality products, but also efficient services that meet the needs of consumers and businesses.
The storage tank is constructed using the innovative jack-up method instead of the traditional bottom-up process. Here, the top section of the tank including the roof is constructed first before being lifted with hydraulics, which enables the lower sections to be assembled. This minimises the use of scaffoldings, the need for workers to work at height and enabled construction to proceed safely and get completed ahead of schedule, despite space restrictions and ongoing activities in the vicinity.
The successful completion of Phase 4 of the Shell Westports Terminal Expansion Plan was a strong testament to the close co-operation and high safety standards adopted by the teams from Shell Malaysia, Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd, the project consultants and contractors.
The Ducati Diavel 1260S is more than just a fast bike, it is quite intelligent as well.
The Diavel 1260S offers award winning looks and an engine that puts out enough power to shame superbikes.
But it is the Pirelli tyres and Bosch electronic brain that create some real magic.
But there were some false neutrals, we asked Ducati why and they explained it perfectly in a video featured in this article.
Reviewing the new Ducati Diavel 1260S reminded me of the original 1200. It was some time back in 2011 that I found myself at the World Expo Centre in Shanghai, staring at the then brand spanking new Ducati Diavel 1200 (below).
I remember being wide eyed. Completely awe struck.
The Diavel tore apart the conventional understanding of a cruiser, and Ducati quite literally stuck it to the motorcycling world with the Diavel.
Every cruiser since then has, in one way or another, been influenced by the Diavel. Maybe in power, handling, braking power or electronics, but the Diavel set the standards pretty high as far as power cruisers are concerned.
The Ducati Diavel 1200 Diesel.
I didn’t get to ride it much, probably about 3km around a square building which served as our “test-track”.
But it was enough for me to believe that Ducati had a winner in their hands, and that the era of the “power cruiser” had arrived.
Nine years later, I am at the coastal town of Malaga and staring at the almost all-new Ducati Diavel 1260S.
It is still a stunning bike as it always has been. In fact, the Diavel recently won the prestigious Red Dot Design Award, click here to read about that.
What’s new?
I say “almost all new” because despite the new 1260 looking very much like the 1200 at first glance, only three things have been carried over from the first Diavel – the headlight, the tail light and the dash.
Ducati says 90% of the bike is new!
It is still a fantastic looking bike, and that 240 section rear tyre will never go out of style. It is just a cool bike but unlike other cruisers, this one has the performance to put sports riders to shame.
Riding Modes
I found this out after switching from Touring to Sport mode (the other mode is the sedated Urban mode, which I very quickly got bored of and I am sure you will too).
I had been riding in Touring since leaving the hotel, over highways and part of the coastal mountains. The roads ahead were wide with fast flowing corners, perfect!
Switching modes requires just two clicks of a switch with your left thumb, and about 3 seconds later and a quick roll off the throttle and the bikes goes from mile munching cruiser to F-15 fighter jet mode.
Power is instantaneous and the new 1262cc Testastretta DVT engine responds to the throttle at millimeter precision.
It offers a more direct response to your right hand and you feel it immediately.
Couple this to the new Ducati Quick Shifter and you have a bike that accelerates so hard that it takes your brain some seconds to register the onslaught, at which point you would already be traveling at over 200km/h.
Speaking of the DQS system though, there were a couple of time where the gear didn’t kick in, resulting in a false neutral. We did ask Ducati why this happened though and their reply is in the video above.
In Sport mode, the new Diavel needs your fullest attention. But it is not just the riding mode that makes it quick, in fact the Diavel 1260S represents the perfect harmony of superbike performance and cruiser like coolness.
Suspension
The suspension is supplied by Ohlins all round, though not electronically controlled but fully adjustable 48mm upside down front fork and a shock absorber for the rear.
Massive Braking Power
Brembo’s M50 monobloc are some of the best in the business this side of professional racing. Featuring face warping abilities, the front is managed by twin 320mm semi-floating discs with radially mounted 4-piston calipers, while the rear is kept in check by a 265mm single dish with a dual-piston Brembo floating caliper.
Of course, there’s a sprinkle of electronic magic here as well with smart electronics working behind the scenes to keep you safe.
The Electronic Brain
Backing up the Brembo braking hardware is a Bosch 9.2MP cornering ABS control unit. It has three intervention levels with Level 1 being the most sporty with zero cornering and rear wheel lift detection. If you like backing it into a corner, this is the level you want.
The ingenious electronics package consists of – Ducati Traction Control EVO, Ducati Power Launch EVO, Ducati Wheelie Control EVO and Cornering ABS EVO.
The brains of it all is a 6-axis Bosch Inertial Measurement Unit that measures roll and pitch angles as well as speed. You can also fully control the level of interference for each parameter – the traction control and wheelie control for example have eight different interference levels.
Sticky Tyres
But despite its power and cleverness, the Diavel 1260S relies on its tyres to deliver every bit of its power. And the tyres are more than a match to the Diavel’s brain and powertrain.
Pirelli’s high-acclaimed Diablo Rosso III are tasked with grip management. And measure in at 120/70 at the front and 240/45 at the back.
This huge variation in tyre section makes the bike feel nervous to lean at first, a typical character of fat-tyre cruisers – the front always seems keener to lean than the rear.
But after a while you get to really dig deep into the tyres for some massive lean angles.
The tyres are dual compound – soft on the outside and hard on the inside.
Despite some damp patches and cold weather, I was able to get on the throttle mid-way of the corner, much earlier than you would on other cruisers.
The Diablo Rosso III is known to have one of the wildest amount of grip, and it complements the character of the bike perfectly well.
So how does it ride?
Comfort is top notch because of the suspension and the wider and perfectly contoured seat that clasps your bum perfectly. No sore bum after that long ride through the mountains and in wet and dry conditions.
The sitting position is sporty with its centre mounted controls, while the X-Diavel is and will be with the new XDiavel 1260, more reminiscent of a cruiser with its forward controls.
The engine and the tyres are really the centrepiece of the new Diavel.
The engine for its mad power and instantaneous response to the slightest input and the resulting massive explosion of power. And the tyres for their ability to keep up with the engine’s brute power.
The electronics are there for check and balance and also for safety that requires thousands of calculations at a fraction of a second. And it is this combination that makes the Diavel feel like a superbike in a cruiser’s clothing.
Our test route was about 220km long along some beautiful roads, a mix of wide, fast and winding and tight and challenging.
The Diavel made mince of it all – of the distance, of the road, of the corners, and even the sections of rain we experienced.
I was too chicken shit to go balls out in Sport mode in the rain, and that too while riding on the wrong side of the road, so it was back to Touring mode, which I find to be the best balance for the Diavel.
Criticisms? Limitatios? I don’t have anything to criticise but some say that there is one limitation you would probably face if you buy the Diavel, and that would be that massive rear tyre. Suffering a rear puncture in a remote area could be a nightmare.
Well, having some experience with touring with the Diavel 1200 during the Ducati China Strada ride in 2013 (pictured above), the tyre never gave way during the near 3000km ride (read about our trip with Ducati in China by clicking here).
In fact, the only problem we faced with the Diavel during that ride was it bottoming out around the off-road section. But that’s to be expected though.
The first-generation Diavel was already fantastic to begin with. A good combination of everything, and the new Diavel 1260S just takes it to an all new level of awesomeness.
Sure it may have taken eight long years for Ducati to improve it, but it is so good, that I actually believe that Diavel 1200 owners may not recognise its riding character.
The new Ducati Diavel 1260S is due to be launched in Malaysia at some point in April or early May of 2019.
Despite some damp patches and cold weather, I was able to get on the throttle mid-way of the corner, much earlier than you would on other cruisers.
