Articles by Wolter Kuiper

Now Japan is set to make the number famous again with a motorcycle that finally breaks the mould of cruiser clones.With its distinctive headlight fairing, the Suzuki Boulevard M109R looks more like a custom bike from a Californian hot rod show than something that came out of the Harley-Davidson factory in Milwaukee, and it's not before time.Suzuki has already come close to breaking the mould with its all-black M50 but the new bike is still a surprise.The company basically has nothing to lose in the cruiser market, where it is no more than a bit player.Harley took out six of the top 10 spots in the category in the Australian market for the first six months of this year, according to figures released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, with Honda and Yamaha the best of the rest in third and fourth spots with the VT750C and XVS650 respectively.The Japanese and Europeans have tried hard to crack the cruiser market, including everything up to 2000cc V-twin engines, but major variations on HD's traditional look have been few and far between — until now.Apart from the fairing, the new Suzuki is fairly standard cruiser fare.The V-twin engine sports a 54-degree angle between the cylinders, rather than Harley's 45 degrees, to accommodate the fuel injection system.Liquid-cooled with a semi-dry sump, it sports a cubic capacity of 1800cc, or 109 cubic inches, hence the M109R designation for the US and Australian markets.The company claims that the 112mm pistons are the largest in a production car or bike.There are upside down forks, radially-mounted front brake calipers and a huge cast aluminium swingarm with underslung single shock with preload adjustment.A sizeable pillion seat is included to replace the rear cowling in front of the LED teardrop tail-light.At 240/40 the rear tyre is the biggest fitted to any Suzuki.Everything about the M109R looks big and solid.Firing up the mill with the 900W starter motor produces a meaty staccato beat from the exhausts, but the bike doesn't dance across the garage floor.Yes, your dentures are safe with this one.At 315kg dry it is no lightweight, but neither is it intimidating to ride.The low seat height helps here and cornering is not the heart-stopping exercise you might expect.Your boot heels touch down first and then the kerb scrapers on the footpegs, before you start grinding the undercarriage.Back off the gas mid-corner and it will sit up, courtesy of the shaft final drive, but it doesn't get out of shape.Chopping down a gear requires care as the engine braking will easily lock up the back wheel.That rear hoop is a bit of a mixed blessing as it provides a wide contact patch but means some effort is required to pitch the bike into a corner.The front discs do a commendable job of hauling up all that motorcycle without drama, but the back disc looks and performs like a Harley item — minimal travel, minimal feel and rapid lock-up.The M109R is more a point-and-shoot bike than a corner carver.That big mill is a beauty, providing miles of smiles with its massive mid-range mumbo.Figure at least 200km between fuel stops.The five-speed gearbox is a slick shifter, but will spit the cogs into neutral if you rush the shift from first to second.Thanks to the fuel injection this Suzuki will run at idle (900 revs) in first gear without any drive line snatch.This tester prefers belt drive for cornering, but it is hard to argue with the smoothness of the shaft on this baby.The feet-forward highway pegs, combined with flat pullback handlebars that make you lean forward take a bit of getting used to, but it's not torture.That lump on top of the 'bars, which houses the rev counter and warning lights, actually seems to reduce turbulence, though there's still a fair bit of wind noise around the helmet.It would be nice to have a digital speed readout up there, as the tank-mounted speedo is well out of the direct line of sight.The side-mounted ignition and separate steering lock are two Harley features we could do without.Come on Suzuki, aren't you trying to break the mould?SPECSEngine: Liquid cooled, 1783cc V-twin four-stroke with balancer shaftPower: 90kW @ 6500rpmTorque: 148Nm @ 3500rpmTransmission: 5-speedEconomy: 7.23 litres/100kmPrice: $18,990

A record 25,512 bikes were sold in the first quarter of this year, up nearly 20 per cent on the same time last year.Sales of road bikes are up by 28.6 per cent to 11,165, almost half of the total, but it's not the latest high-performance machines that are making the cash registers ring.Yamaha's YZF-R1 superbike just made it into the top 10 with 254 sales. The main players in the road resurgence were cruisers (up 19.4 per cent) and scooters (up 47.3 per cent).The best-selling road bike was the Jive Bug scooter (270 sales) and the top cruiser was Harley-Davidson's FXST Softail (191)."This is a continuation of a trend that has emerged in the past two years, driven by middle-aged riders returning to two wheels and a whole new segment of customers attracted to scooters," Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive Peter Sturrock says."The scooter scene is starting to build real momentum as the appeal of simple, easy-to-park, low-cost transport becomes more widely known in Australia," Sturrock says.According to the FCAI, it is the first time in many years that sales of road bikes have exceeded those of dirt bikes, though the off-road brigade still dominates the top 10.Yamaha's YZ250F and YZ450F flanked Honda's CT110X "postie" bike on the podium as moto-crossers homed in on the new alloy-framed models. The two Yamahas were up 61.8 per cent and 151.8 per cent respectively on the same period last year.But the CT110X, the traditional market leader, was down 27.3 per cent awaiting the next round of fleet turnovers at Australia Post.In the battle of the brands, Honda is leading the year-to-date figures with 6024 (up 6 per cent), followed by Yamaha (5532), Suzuki (2938), Kawasaki (2112) and KTM (1541)."We have had a very successful first quarter," Honda motorcycles general manager Tony Hinton says."Our off-road bike share of the market is holding nicely and we're very happy with the strong result of the new CRF450X (enduro bike)."Yamaha's "boys in blue" claimed victory in the motocross, offroad and funbike categories, and the electric-start TTR230, launched last year, is starting to catch Honda's CRF230F in the trail section.Yamaha director/general manager Steven Cotterell says: "Across all products Yamaha has posted a 12.9 per cent increase in the first quarter of 2006. When you consider how many units Yamaha sells, this is an awesome achievement."

We can, and will, tell you what this motorcycle is like to ride, but it's Marabese Design's stunning work that brought this show bike into production, and it's the styling that will make it sell.The second bike in the "clean sheet" program funded by Guzzi's previous owner, Aprilia, the Griso features the engine introduced in the Breva last year, but a different frame and running gear. In fact, the Griso probably carries more Aprilia bits than leftovers from around Guzzi's Mandelo del Lario factory.The engine remains the firm's trademark 90-degree air-cooled V-twin, but the castings are all new and of much better quality.The transmission is a six speeder and the final drive is a single-sided shaftdrive set-up with progressive linkage. Called CARC, for Cardano Reattivo (after a famous Guzzi engineer) or Compact Reactive Shaft Drive (on the spec sheet), the set-up reportedly cost Moto Guzzi a small fortune in development and legal costs to get around the patents for BMW's similar Paralever system.Unlike the German set-up, the CARC driveshaft and universal joints, incorporating torsional dampers, float in the housing with a torsion bar to prevent the bike's rear end "squatting" under braking and rising under acceleration.Controlling this engineering masterpiece is a linkage-equipped, fully adjustable Sachs shock with piggyback reservoir, and the front carries 43mm upside-down Showa forks that also are fully adjustable. What looks like a fork brace is just a paint and plastic job on the front mudguard. Brembo supplies the floating disc brakes at each end.The distinctive, silver twin-tube frame is the centrepiece of the bike's styling. Wrapped over this is a polycarbonate fuel tank, and vented sidepanels cover the fuel-injection plumbing, wiring and twin horns.The detail is impressive: a minimalistic instrument panel, giant fuel filler, dark-tinted indicator lenses and beefy triple clamps.What really sets this bike apart is the "bazooka" muffler that comes complete with holes underneath and drainpipe exhaust headers.The set-up is slightly less aggressive than the show bike in that the collector ducks under the engine rather than dumping straight into the muffler, but the rest is a faithful reproduction of Marabese's design.ON THE ROADThat giant exhaust and aggressive styling reminiscent of Yamaha's MT01 suggest the Griso is one mean mother. It's not, despite Moto Guzzi calling it a "power cruiser". That must have more to do with the styling than its 64.8kW output. They're definitely on the money with the "cruiser" bit because the Griso is perfect for a weekend run.Despite the bike's fairly long wheelbase of 1554mm, the Griso is a competent corner carver. The steering is relatively quick, helped by the ultra-wide handlebars.There is plenty of cornering clearance, helped by the absence of a centrestand, and the anti-squat CARC set-up keeps the bike sitting flat in corners even if you back off.Brembo's finest do an admirable job of pulling up the beast which, at 227kg dry, is no lightweight.As fitted, the suspension feels as if it has been set up for a 90kg Italian — too stiff for lighter riders on choppy Victorian surfaces.The gearbox is a vast improvement over our previous Guzzi test bike, a California. Neutral is easy to find and changes are accompanied by a click rather than a clunk. Sixth is a serious overdrive ratio.Traditional fans can relax as well. This Guzzi hasn't become the Italian equivalent of a Japanese sewing machine. The engine does still produce moderate vibes.There's no balance shaft, so it feints to the left when you blip the throttle when stationary.One minor niggle is the left-hand switchblock, on which the horn button is easier to reach than the indicator switch (this is an Italian machine), and the trip computer control button, below the highbeam flasher, looks like an afterthought.The low-fuel light also comes on annoyingly early for a bike which, despite its limited 17-litre fuel capacity, has a range up to 300km.For extended touring you'd be better off on the Breva (see right), or the fully faired Norge 1200 due here in May, but neither of them looks as good as the Griso.

Over the years the incredible athlete and her offspring won scores of championships in track and field.Many men hankered after them, but were put off by reports of the Swedes' expensive tastes. These girls were "high-maintenance".As time passed, a flood of Japanese beauties and anorexic Austrians began pulling in the younger guys and Husky fell on hard times.After an unhappy dalliance with a vacuum cleaner salesman named Electrolux, she was forced to marry MV Agusta in 1986 and move to Schiranna in Italy.As it happens, things turned out pretty well. The marriage spawned a wave of muscular crossbreeds sporting sexy Italian clothes.Husky's proud history has been recognised for 2006, when the family's track athletes will carry the red and white of Varese, their new home province, and the field stars retain Sweden's yellow and blue.The motocross team consists of the CR125 two-stroke and the TC250, 450 and 510 four-strokes.The blue and yellow enduro range features the WR125 and WR250 two-strokes plus the TE250, 450, 510 and 610E four-stroke machines.There's also a bunch of supermotard bikes, including the black sheep of the family, the SM610.Though the colour switch is the most visible change, there are plenty of upgrades below the surface.All the four-stroke engines get bigger valves, lumpier cams and two-ring pistons. Motocross versions get an all-titanium exhaust system and a redesigned kickstarter, but their electric starters are optional, which won't please "recreational registration" riders, but saves 4kg and gets rid of the battery in the airbox.The two-stroke models have had engine work designed to improve power, with V Force reed valves and redesigned manifold.The CR125 and TCs now run the excellent Ohlins rear shocks with compression and rebound damping adjustment. No such luck on the WR and TE models, which stay with revalved Sachs shocks.The Marzocchi forks have increased by 5mm, to 50mm, on the 450 and 510 models.Digital trip computers and handguards are a big bonus on the enduro models while the handlebars are now adjustable for height and offset. ON THE DIRTChasing 2005 Australian Off-Road champion Anthony "AJ" Roberts on the single-track enduro loop at Toowoomba is hard work.With loads of power on tap, the WR250 like the one he races is a blast to ride on open trails, steering with the back tyre spinning.But with less than 1000km on the clock it is jetted rich and stalls fairly easily. In comparison, the TE450 makes traction everywhere and won't spin the rear as easily. It doesn't stall on the loop which, by this stage of the day, is a big bonus.Husqvarna-sponsored V8 Supercar driver Russell Ingall has no trouble on the WR, which proves you can't hold a good racer down.Interestingly, the factory claims only a 5kg advantage for the WR250 two-stroke over the TE450 and no weight difference from the TE250.On the groomed Echo Valley motocross track, it's hard to pick between the three EC models.The Ohlins shocks are a big bonus, but the bigger Marzocchi forks don't seem to make much difference on directional changes.All the bikes are beautifully finished with smooth castings, excellent plastics and quality welding — something you could not say about the old Swedish Huskys.With a two-year parts and labour warranty on the enduro models and one year on the motocrossers, the Huskys are worth considering, especially if you are serious about your riding.