Australian Motorcycle News

A revived interest in exotic engines means six-cylinder bikes are in for a resurgence It’s been 15 years since BMW made the unusually bold move of adding an inline six-cylinder option to its model range in the form of the K1600GT – the first production bike with that configuration since we said goodbye to Kawasaki’s Z1300 in 1989.

Last month I confessed to having clocked up 40 years of writing for motorcycle magazines. Wasn’t the only thing I confessed but Greg’s forgiven me, so we’re back again! While looking for a photo to illustrate that column, another fell out of the album. It shows me dinking a couple of mates on the back of the old Matchless circa 1976. Looks like full party mode too, probably the morning after a college ball judging by the fact that two of us got changed but Bill on the back hasn’t been home yet.

Australian rock icon Jimmy Barnes will headline a Saturday night concert at this year’s Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island, marking his return to the event after more than 30 years Jimmy Barnes will headline what is expected to be an emotional final farewell to MotoGP at Phillip Island, bringing the heart and soul of Australian rock and roll to the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

Fresh design filings show Honda’s highly anticipated V3R in final production trim, revealing road-ready details Honda’s supercharged V3R has been the talk of the EICMA show in Milan two years running – an engine was shown in 2024 and the whole bike last year – and now it’s finally getting ready to appear in showrooms and we’ve got an early look at the finished production model via a set of design filings that have leaked before Honda intended.

As WorldSBK’s calendar grows ever more Europe-heavy, one cherished pillar of its identity is under threat It does not take any kind of genius to understand that WorldSBK is having a bit of a hard time right now finding race venues that meet two important characteristics. One – they are not in Europe and actively want to have a WSBK round. Two – they have the guaranteed funds to pay-for-play, in the current rights owner’s way of doing things.

From lightweight adventurers to V4 cruisers, new arrivals from BSA and Benda are set to turn up the heat in one of Australia’s most hotly contested segments Heritage brand BSA and Chinese upstart Benda are about to broaden the LAMS market with upcoming models. BSA, which launched here in March and already has Bantam 350 demo bikes available at some dealers, will release its Thunderbolt 350 later this year.

Talking the torque – the inside story of what makes a gamechanger The Norton Manx R, created as the flagship model in the company’s resurgence under TVS ownership, has achieved worldwide acclaim for taking a fresh approach to a roadgoing superbike. Norton’s Chief Technical Officer, Brian Gillen, says it took over 30,000km of testing in Europe to develop a ‘hypersports V4’ aimed at a cross-section of road riders, not just experienced trackday enthusiasts.

Upcoming two-cylinder sports bike was teased back in 2024 Back in 2024 CFMoto wheeled out a disguised prototype for an upcoming new model – the 250SR-R – at its annual CFMoto Day in China. Now the same machine has appeared in a patent filing that strips away the disguise and gives a first look at the components underneath.

Ducati champion rules them all in Germany as tyre troubles blunt Miller’s top 10 charge Marc Marquez reinforced his status as the master of Sachsenring, sweeping qualifying (with a new all-time circuit record), the sprint race and the German GP in commanding style. The victory marked his 10th MotoGP win at the circuit and the 102nd grand prix triumph of his career. The Ducati Lenovo Team rider arrived in Germany needing a big result and delivered exactly that.

Less power for next supercharged Kawasaki Ninja? Kawasaki’s supercharged Ninja H2 has been with us for over a decade now and led the charge past the 200hp mark for superbikes – but the next version could be reined in to bring its emissions into line with European standards. The H2 started life with a mere 147.2kW (197hp) but was ramped up to 150.8kW (202hp) in 2017 and a whopping 170kW (228hp) in 2019.