Soundwave festival, Melbourne, 22 Feb 2014

Biffy Clyro

Volbeat

Clutch

Eagles of Death Metal

Mastodon

2014 Mongoose Logo

KTM Australian Enduro-X Nationals 2014

Ballarat Rovers, Come & Try Day at Monza Park, Sunday 17 Nov 2013

Castella Vinduro, 20 Oct 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 



Victorian Trials Championship, Mount Bolton, 29 Sep 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

River crossing at 2013 Harrow Vinduro

RVA Overland - Triumph Special

Check out this Triumph Bonneville special, dubbed the RVA Overland. It’s a one-off custom machine built by Atom Bomb Custom Motorcycles in Richmond, Virginia, USA.

The 1974 Triumph Bonneville motor is housed in a custom frame with Yamaha front end and Husqvarna shocks.

Details were posted posted on bike exif a year or so ago...

http://www.bikeexif.com/vintage-dirt-bike

2013 Dakar Rally - my wrap up

The 2013 Dakar Rally began with 196 starters in the motorcycle diviosn and of these only 125 finished. As most motor sport fans would know KTM mounted Frenchman Cyril Despres won the event this year. Below are a few thoughts and observations of my own on this year's Dakar.

The Australians

Best placed Australian was Rod Faggotter in 14^th place, with Ben Grabham just behind him in 15^th. The Australian entrants in the Moto class finished up like this…

14: Rod Faggotter (123), Yamaha

15: Ben Grabham (57), KTM

24: Warren Strange (131), Honda

34: Todd Smith (156), Honda

59: Simon Pavey (51), Husqvarna

111: Matt Fish (39), Husqvarna

Andrew Scott (181) called it quits at stage 4, and Troy O’Connor (75) was out at stage 5.

I can’t help feeling that Matt Fish was somewhat hamstrung by his role as teammate Barreda Bort’s water carrier. Fish came in third on the second stage, and was in sixth place overall. However he lost time providing assistance to Juan on more than one occasion, so I was quite disappointed to see him finish so far down the listings.

Other interesting stuff

One of the biggest disappointments for me this year was the failure of Ignacio Chivite to bring his Bultaco Frontera to the finish line. On his second Dakar attempt, Chivite did not get past the second stage.

There was some good news for two stroke fans though. Argentine rider Luis Belaustegui (150) might have been the last rider home, but he was riding a 150cc KTM two stroke, so it was quite an achievement.

I’m delighted to see that unlike KTM, Honda and Yamaha; Suzuki had a 100% finish rate. Portugal’s Mario Patrao (103) brought his Suzuki in at 30^th place, on his debut Dakar.

It’s also worth noting that Kawasaki had a 100% finish rate, as did Chinese manufacturer Jincheng. The two Jinchengs finished in 55^th and 118^th positions, while the three Kawasaki riders came in at 45^th, 84^th and 113^th.

The only woman to finish was Laia Sanz (36) who piloted her Gas Gas to 93^rd. This was pretty impressive, seeing as she spent 24 hours on the bike during one stage, and got back with only three hours to get some rest before heading out for the next day (and incurred a hefty penalty for coming in late).

My hero

I didn’t realise until after the event that Frenchman Nicolas Boyer was riding a 1999 Honda XR400R. The fact that he finished in 87^th position, in front of many more modern bikes is made even more awesome by the fact that he was riding unassisted in the malle-moto class. He paid €3500 for the bike and had a total budget of €25,000! Well done that man!

Bumper crop of Aussie riders in 2013 Dakar Rally

With nine riders to line up for the start of the 2013 Dakar Rally, this would have to be the largest contingent from Australia in the event's history.  

39. Matt Fish, Honda
51. Simon Pavey, Husqvarna
57. Ben Grabham, Honda
75. Troy O'Connor, KTM
123. Rod Faggotter, Yamaha
131. Warren Strang, Honda
156. Tod Smith, Honda
181. Andrew Scott, Honda
274. Paul Smith, Honda (Quad)

RACV Motorclassica

Click on the link below for some images of vintage cars and motorbikes taken at the 2012 RACV Motorclassica on October 27. The event was held in the magnificent Royal Exhibition Building, in Carlton, Victoria, Australia.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/94704762@N00/sets/72157631900076600/

 

 

Bikes of Melbourne #2



Old school Suzuki GS1100 and Harley Sportster...

Vintage Dirtbike Days

Found this on the 'tube... Nothing much to it, just some guys messing around with old dirt bikes. 

My TTR250 at the 2012 Kenda Rally

My 2007 Yamaha TTR250 after completing the first half of the 2012 Kenda Rally in Victoria, Australia. It was even dirtier after the second loop!



Bikes of Melbourne #1

First in a series of snaps of motorbikes taken around Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The theme of this episode is...



Italian.

1991 - 1995 Honda XR250R

Tough lookin' bike...



Laro SPT350

This liquid cooled, parallel twin with EFI, dual front discs and rear disc also comes with a 28 litre fuel tank! This allegedly gives it a range of almost 900 kms!

More details at http://www.laro.com.au/  

Dakar Rally 2012 selected results

1. Cyril Despres, France, KTM
2. Marc Coma, Spain, KTM
3. Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, Yamaha
4. Jordi Villadoms, Spain, KTM
5. Stefan Svitko, Slovakia

27. Chris Birch, New Zealand, KTM

40. Dean Nuttall, Australia, KTM
43. David Schwarz, Australia, Husaberg
54. Jamie Chittick, Australia, Honda

1984 Husqvarna WR



Tanks for the memories...