Historic Motorcycle Reviews and Features | MCNews.com.au

Reflecting on MV Agusta history focusing on the 750 S

Ian Falloon — Fri, 19 May 2023 00:54:24 +0000

MV Agusta 750 S With Ian Falloon While Ducati is currently the most successful Italian racing marque, it is sometimes forgotten that during the 1960s and early 1970s MV Agusta was virtually unbeatable in the 500 cc class. Their testimony is in the total of 38 individual riders World Championships and 37 manufacturers World Championships […]

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Honda RS500 – An NSR500 for Grand Prix privateers…

Phil Aynsley — Wed, 17 May 2023 02:24:44 +0000

Honda RS500 When Honda announced (at the end of 1977) it would return to Grand Prix racing it was with the highly ambitious 4-stroke NR500 project that was basically a V8 with four pairs of conjoined cylinders. After debuting at the British GP in late 1979 the NR500 was campaigned without any GP success until […]

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The Yamaha YZF-R1 turns 25 – History of the YZF-R1

Rennie Scaysbrook — Fri, 05 May 2023 01:09:53 +0000

Yamaha YZF-R1 History Rennie Scaysbrook The year is 1998. Yamaha launches the first edition of the YZF-R1. The world’s press publications are gob smacked, and the company can’t keep up with demand. Waiting lists blow out for salivating customers, and Yamaha’s rivals have been caught with their pants down. The 1998 Yamaha YZF-R1 is the […]

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Kevin Curtain on the original 1998 Yamaha YZF-R1

Rennie Scaysbrook — Fri, 05 May 2023 00:57:10 +0000

Kevin Curtain on the original 1998 Yamaha R1 Kevin Curtain used the 1998 Yamaha YZF-R1 to excellent effect during the 1998 Australian Production Superbike Championship season. The 1998 YZF-R1 was always intended to be raced, but at the time of its release there was no official Australian championship class for it. Formula Xtreme wasn’t an […]

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1985 Laverda 1000 SFC – The bike that ‘was’ going to save Laverda…

Ian Falloon — Fri, 05 May 2023 00:43:32 +0000

Laverda 1000 SFC With Ian Falloon Laverda’s legend was built around the 750 SFC; the bright orange factory racers that dominated European endurance racing in the early 1970s. But as the 750 twin became outclassed Laverda turned towards the fire breathing 180-degree 1000 cc Jota triple to sustain the myth. Yet by the 1980s not […]

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Bimota SB2 | The first real world road going Bimota

Phil Aynsley — Fri, 05 May 2023 00:33:07 +0000

Bimota SB2 With Phil Aynsley Bimota achieved considerable success with their competition designs (the 1972 HB1, Jonny Cecotto’s 1975 World Championship winning 350 Yamaha and the 1976 250 and 350 Aermacchi-Harley Davidsons of Walter Villa), and debuted their first street motorcycle in 1976. The design was commissioned by the Italian Suzuki importer SAIAD following on […]

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Kawasaki H2 750 – Where it all started…

Ian Falloon — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 04:28:25 +0000

Kawasaki H2 750 Two-Stroke Triple With Ian Falloon When Kawasaki released the H1 500 cc two-stroke triple in 1968 they showed they were prepared to go beyond traditional boundaries in the quest for performance. While Honda and Yamaha were concentrating on big four-strokes, Kawasaki maintained their faith in the two-stroke. Two-strokes were cheaper to manufacture, […]

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Tecfar – A chassis worthy of the Ducati 950 V-Twin

Phil Aynsley — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 04:14:19 +0000

Tecfar Ducati 900 With Phil Aynsley The Tecfar project came about as a result of noted Spanish rider Salvador Cañellas requesting a better frame after crashing in practice for the 1981 Barcelona 24 race. He was more than happy with the 950 cc 90 hp Ducati V-twin engine. Ricardo Fargas (ex-racer, manager and head of […]

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Shannons Classic Bike Broadford – The Gap Year…

Colin Rosewarne — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 05:12:19 +0000

Shannons Classic Bike Broadford By Colin Rosewarne For all of the previous years, Motorcycling Australia has owned, promoted and organised the Broadford Bike Bonanza. This year, M.A. chose to not promote the event and this saw the creation of a fill-in event of a different name. Due to M.A. owning the Broadford Bike Bonanza name […]

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Moto Guzzi Stornello 125 Turismo

Phil Aynsley — Fri, 07 Apr 2023 23:12:29 +0000

Moto Guzzi Stornello 125 Turismo With Phil Aynsley While superficially similar the the earlier 175 cc Lodola, the Stornello was a new design penned by Giulio Carcano – his previous efforts included the 500 cc V8 (Moto Guzzi V8 | 300km/h in 1957 on a 500cc 4-stroke) – and was intended to be both cheap […]

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Ducati 996 SPS Pista – Pinnacle of a significant Ducati lineage

Ian Falloon — Thu, 06 Apr 2023 23:55:35 +0000

Ducati 996 SPS Pista With Ian Falloon With the long line of Ducati factory Superbike racing V-twins now at an end it’s worth recalling the incredible success of some earlier engine designs, notably the Desmoquattro. Between 1990 and 2000 the 851, 888, 916, and 996 Desmoquattro won eight World Superbike Championships. Their riders, headed by […]

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The History of the Honda CB750

Ian Falloon — Thu, 06 Apr 2023 00:06:14 +0000

Honda CB750 History With Ian Falloon Until the late 1960s motorcycle with four cylinder engines were exotic and expensive. Emphasising smoothness, luxury and power, for most people a four was only a dream. Gilera and MV Agusta fours dominated 500 cc Grand Prix racing through the 1950s, and were joined by Honda in the 1960s. […]

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1972 Norton 750 Commando Mark IV ‘Combat’

Phil Aynsley — Wed, 05 Apr 2023 23:40:31 +0000

1972 Norton 750 Commando Mark IV ‘Combat’ With Phil Aynsley The Norton Commando was introduced in 1967 as the replacement for the company’s 750 Atlas. It was originally intended to have a completely new 800 cc DOHC parallel-twin engine but that was abandoned, as was a cheaper redesign. In the end a modified Atlas motor […]

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Triumph Speed Triple – The earlier generations

Ian Falloon — Fri, 31 Mar 2023 00:17:48 +0000

Triumph Speed Triple With Ian Falloon After celebrating a highly successful initial phase with their first generation spine-frame models, Triumph embarked on their next era with the unveiling of the new Daytona T595 and Speed Triple T509 at the Cologne show in October 1996. These much more modern designs marked a milestone for Triumph, and […]

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SWM RS 175GS – The Rotax powered SWM Motorcycles

Phil Aynsley — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 00:25:38 +0000

SWM RS 175GS With Phil Aynsley SWM (colloquially Speedy Working Motors), but in fact an amalgamation of the first letters of the owners’ surnames together with the town they were made in – Sironi Vergani Vimercate Milano – was established in 1971. Two friends, Peter Sironi and Fausto Vergani got off to an excellent start […]

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Brough Superior SS100 Alpine Grand Sports 1928

Ian Falloon — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 03:25:29 +0000

1928 Brough Superior SS100 Alpine Grand Sports With Ian Falloon Pre-war England sported a thriving motorcycle industry. But while majority of bikes on the road were utilitarian single cylinder ride-to-work machines for those who had money, the best, and most expensive, was the Brough Superior SS100. Some things never change and today the Brough Superior […]

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