Spaniard to remain aboard GSX-RR into 2021 and 2022 seasons.
Image: Supplied.
Team Suzuki Ecstar has renewed its contract with Joan Mir that will see the Spaniard remain with the factory through the 2022 MotoGP season.
After recently re-signing Alex Rins, Mir’s continuation will form a consistent direction for the team over the next two years.
“I’m extremely happy to sign with Suzuki for another two years,” Mir said. “Renewing is the best thing that could happen and it’s a dream come true again! It’s really important for me to continue because now I have more time to learn and more time to show my potential.
“Two years can go by quickly, but I am ready to arrive at a higher level and we are working every day to make that happen. I am also so pleased on a personal level because I have a really good team and crew around me. I really want to thank everyone at Suzuki for their confidence in me.”
Davide Brivio commented: “We are very happy to have reached an agreement with Joan Mir and have him complete our line-up for the next two years. We consider Joan a very talented rider and it is important to continue together to take full advantage of the experience that we have built so far and trying to improve even more.
“We are also happy to have a young team with two very strong riders such as Alex and Joan, which has always been our real target. This allows us to look to the future with confidence. I would like to thank Joan for trusting us with his future and also the whole Suzuki Motor Corporation, who supports us.
“Being able to extend the agreements with both Alex Rins and Joan Mir during such an extraordinary and strange moment in history is a sign that give us high hopes for the future and encouragement to all the fans to look ahead with positivity and optimism, with the hope of being able to get back on track as soon as possible.”
Mir made his MotoGP debut with Team Suzuki Ecstar in 2019, following a highly successful Moto3 season in 2017 which saw him crowned champion. The 22-year-old came quickly through the ranks early in his career and proved to be a fast learner when making his premier class debut.
Gelling well with his new team, he secured eighth place in his inaugural race, going on to score another nine top 10 finishes in 2019 despite an injury mid-season. Once recovered, Mir was able to pick up an impressive fifth place at Phillip Island and in the 2020 testing he was showing inspiring form with the latest generation GSX-RR.
6. Number of paddock personnel attending races in 2020 “We talked to the teams and arrived at a consensus that maximum number for a MotoGP manufacturer team will be 40, for satellite or independent teams will be 25, 20 for Moto2 and 15 for Moto3. Then there will be, of course, all the people who produce the television signal; all this crew, then the minimum number of people from Dorna who are in charge of race organisation. This will give us an average of around 1600 people. This is a possibility to control the MotoGP family. Unfortunately at the moment will be no media and no TV. Maybe, but not sure, maybe some photographers to supply images to everybody.”
Yesterday, 30 April 2020, marked the end of the iconic and architecturally beautiful Victory/Indian store at 544 Elizabeth Street Melbourne.
I was there in September 2008 as the store was launching a “soft opening”. The fit-out was complete, the shop had been stocked with brand new Victory motorcycles and staff were cleaning, polishing and adding the final touches and the doors where “open”. I had not long returned from the 105th Harley-Davidson birthday celebrations in Milwaukee in 2008.
The Victory store opening in 2008
Victory was launched in America on the 4th of July 1998 but 2008 was my first up close and personal look at any of the new Victory machines.
I was offered the ride of a Hammer at a bar in San Francisco but declined due the fact I had been in that bar for several hours. I was amongst traffic in Sacramento later that week when I saw a Victory Vision for the first time.
Victory Vision
These were ground breaking bikes. Like them or not they had a presence like no other machine. The rider of this bike lazily offered his opinion that he “wished they had these years ago”.
I was certainly intrigued by its size, its presence in amongst the Harleys and total lack of concern on that riders’ face as he disappeared off down the highway. A few weeks later and I’m back in Melbourne standing outside the fabulous new Victory store.
Victory Vision in the Melbourne Elizabeth Street store
I was gawking at the Visions on display, one moving around on the podium when Peter Harvey sauntered up, introduced himself and promptly offered me a coffee. Peter was the head of Motorcycle Division Polaris Australia and this was already a wildly different experience than wandering into a Harley dealership, greetings and a hot coffee!
I told Peter about my recent trip to the States and my impression of the new bikes. He offered me a test ride, just call up the shop, or drop in, bring my licence and away you go.
That next weekend, I called and asked, that as the weather was forecasting a warm Saturday, could I take the bike for a couple of hours? Peter replied, “mate, it’s going to be a great weekend, why don’t you bring it back Tuesday, because we’re shut Mondays”.
To put this offer in context, to book a test ride on a new Harley in those days, you had to put your name on a waiting list and wait until the once yearly test ride days where you went around a 10-kilometre circuit with the dealer.
Victory Vision
This was next level. I’ve been handed the keys to a brand new $32,000 machine and told to bring it back in four days!
Even in telling this story as I often do, people don’t believe me.
I put 500 kilometres on that machine, mainly over a weekend of riding flat out on the country roads around the North East of Melbourne, up the freeways and to and from work. My mates rode it and the kids pillioned on it. I demonstrated the electric windscreen, the 100-watt stereo/radio, the heated grips and heated seats, marvelled at the capacity of the panniers and then shocked people by letting it fall over on its side. (Visions could be leaned over to the ground where they rested on their footboards and a bar below the panniers with no damage).
Next Tuesday afternoon, I owned one. From that day on, myself and all of the new Victory owners became ambassadors for the brand.
Victory Vision Tour
We loved the bikes with a passion. The sales went from strength to strength and the shop treated us early adopters like royalty. The first shop ride was to Bright in Victoria. They paid for our accommodation, our dinner and our drinks on the night. The group photo taken the next morning showed a gaggle of heavily hungover riders about to head home to recover.
There were several runs in the early days that the shop paid for.
I remember the Bright run, Phillip Island ride, the Apollo Bay ride, the Yarra Glen extravaganza at a winery but nothing beat the ride up to Sydney to celebrate the opening of the new Sydney shop. From memory there were more than a hundred bikes on that near 1000 kilometre ride. The shop paid for our fuel, group luncheons and threw the best party at the new dealership.
An Arlen Ness Victory special shot by Trev in 2012
They bussed us to and from the store after the launch and then put serious cash on the bar at the after party in Homebush. When that money ran out, Alan Nichols and myself topped it up for another hour or two. Such was the passion and the drunkardness…
When we called in to the shop this week, nearly every reference to Victory was gone. There was a wallpapered section at the rear doors but that was it. Since the end of the Victory brand in 2017, the shop, which was owned by Polaris, was converted to showcase the Indians, with an increasingly smaller floor plan for used Victory machines. Now it’s all gone.
Indians are going to be sold across a new dealer network in Australia unrepresentative of the previous brand owned stores. They will now be retailed from multi-franchise stores, often linked to that large retail motorcycle chains.
I made a lot of friends in the early days. Many of them are still great mates. Along with the help of Big Ray Noble, we helped arrange the first monthly rides. These were also hosted by the shop with a hot breakfast and a coffee truck. Many of these rides were led by Tony Scerri. There isn’t a country road in the state and probably the East Coast of Australia that Tony hasn’t been down several times and his riding skills are inspirational. Victorys first salesman, Ant Clark, went off to represent Australia as one of the worlds top Victory salesman at a Polaris junket in Hawaii in 2011.
Victory Motorcycle Family
Many of the old crew still have Victory bikes. I’ve had several over the years and still have one of the few 2013 Hardballs. Last month I picked up a used 2009 Vision. It’s in mint condition, it has upgraded Lloyds cams, pipes and air filter, it even has reverse gear fitted. I got it for far less that the $32000 new bike price but this bike will last forever, as the Vics were designed to do.
Ant and I both called in to the shop this week to see the last of the crew left to clean up and fill the skips with rubbish and prepare it for handover. The last dealer principal Roman Peldys was there, as was John Cook, Frank Bianco, and Jules Woodmansey, the magic mechanic.
The Indian Motorcycles showroom in Melbourne
It’s a pity the virus is with us. It was a moment that should have been shared with handshakes, man hugs and cold beers. For me and many others, Victory was a great few years in our lives. Without the inspiration and enthusiasm of Peter Alexander, the Australian boss of Polaris, Daryl Storrie the shops first Dealer principal and Mike Hennessy the supremely talented shop mechanic, it wouldn’t have been the awesome ride it was.
Thanks for the great rides, the fabulous bikes and the lifelong memories.
The third-largest motorcycle company in India plans to continue production at Donington Hall for about six months and then move to a new headquarters nearby in Leicestershire.
Norton’s Donington Hall factory
TVS joint managing director Sudarshan Venu has big plans for Norton including:
Doubling the British workforce;
Launching new products, possibly smaller-capacity models;
Investing tens of millions in the company; and
Moving to a larger factory with the capacity to build 2000 handmade bikes a year.
Hi-tech needed
We hope the new facility is more hi-tech than the current factory which one visitor described as a “very musty old building that desperately needed maintenance”.
The visitor who asked for anonymity says the bikes were hand made, “but on carpet tiles where you can still see where the desks were”.
“There was a complete lack of technology. The bike I looked at in pre-delivery was not being tuned on a dyno – no laptop plugged in to the ECU.”
New CEO
TVS have also appointed interim CEO John Russell who has a background in management consultancy, engineering, and automotive.
Among his many postings are a stint with Harley-Davidson.
Vanu says Norton will “retain its distinctive identity with dedicated and specific business plans”.
TVS have confirmed they will continue to build the Commando, Dominator and V4 RR as well as the promised Atlas series.
Norton Atlas Ranger and Nomad
In further good news for Australian Norton fans, Varghese tells us they will continue with their current dealer network with importer James Mutton of Brisbane Motorcycles.
If you are lucky, it will not cause an immediate loss of air and therefore traction and control.
Those with tyre pressure monitors, either factory fitted or aftermarket, will get a warning.
If not, you can sense the loss of pressure through the steering and handling which becomes heavy and vague.
On some occasions, my tyre has picked up a screw or nail that blocks the loss of air and I’ve only noticed it when I’ve done my pre- and post-ride checks. That’s why it’s so important to do these checks before and after a ride.
Tubeless Vs tubed tyres
There are advantages and disadvantages in tubeless and tubed tyres.
A tubed tyre will often hold the air better after a puncture, allowing you to ride to safety. A tubeless will often lose a lot more pressure a lot quicker.
It is a lot more difficult fixing a punctured tubed tyre at the side of the road, but it can be done.
Otherwise, you better have good roadside assist!
If it’s just a small tube puncture, you can fix it cheaply and ride on in confidence. There may be no need to buy another tyre. At worst you may need a new tube.
A tubeless tyre may be easier to fix with a repair kit, but it limits the longevity of the tyre. Even though it is not illegal, it may void your insurance in a crash, so you may need a whole new tyre.
How to fix a tubed tyre
Fixing a tubed tyre requires a lot of tools and usually reasonable luggage capacity.
You will need tyre levers, a puncture repair kit, spanners and a compact air compressor that runs off the bike’s battery as a few canisters of compressed air will not re-inflate a tyre from totally flat.
Rarely can you fix a punctured tube without having to take the wheel off, which makes it extra problematic. In which case, you may need to transport the bike.
Popping the bead of the tyre can also be difficult as they are often cemented in place to stop them slipping on the rim.
On one occasion, we had to ride over the tyre with another bike to pop the bead, severely scratching the rim.
Use the levers to get the tyre off the rim to expose the tube.
To find the leak, spit on any blemishes to see if it bubbles or listen for hissing.
Repair kits include a small piece of sandpaper which you use to rough up the area around the whole. Then apply the cement and place a patch over the hole.
Push the tube back in being careful not to twist or pinch it, put the tyre back on the rim and the wheel back on the bike, reattach the chain if it was the back wheel and pump it up.
It’s a lot of work and difficult on your own, but it can be done.
How to fix a tubeless tyre
Most road bikes and even some adventure bikes now come with tubeless tyres.
They are a comparative breeze to fix.
Usually the hole is easy to find as there is still a nail, screw or other object embedded in them.
Take it out with a screwdriver or pliers.
Your repair kit will have a rasp-like tool that you then ream in and out of the hole to rough it up a bit to make a good contact with the cement which you inject into and around the hole.
The kit will also have a tool that looks like a big needle and plugs or sticky rope-like pieces to plug the hole.
I prefer the rope version because it seems to fit into irregular holes better.
Thread it through the “needle” tool and then ram it into the hole and pull it out quickly.
This will leave the plug in place and you can cut off the excess, leaving about 1cm of plug.
You won’t usually lose all the pressure from the tyre as you would from a punctured tube so you may be ale to pump it back up with two or three canisters of compressed air.
It’s important to then ride the bike for at least 15 minutes at about 80km/h to heat the plug so it bonds with the tyre.
Eric de Seynes, Yamaha Motor Europe President and CEO
“The reopening of both Motorcycle, Scooters and engines production plants we have in Europe is a positive news within a very complicated period we are experiencing. It has been possible thanks to the cooperation with all involved parties, which I sincerely want to thank, and will happen securing all the safety standard for our employee. It also represents a key milestone to support with new products our dealer network which during the coming weeks will restart operations in all the countries involved in the lockdown as Italy (May 4th) or France and Spain (May 11th).”
Yamaha Motor Europe today announced that final product manufacturing will resume at the Motori Minarelli engine factory in Calderara di Reno, Italy and the MBK Industrie assembly plant in Saint Quentin , France on Monday 4th May.
Production at both facilities was temporarily suspended on March 16th to ensure the safety of the workforce, prior to the mandatory lockdown eventually imposed in both countries to combat the spread of coronavirus.
The situation has been monitored closely in the intervening period, with the factory closures assessed on a weekly basis.
Resumption of production has been a two-phase process, with phase one taking place in April. In strict accordance with the restrictions in each country, this initial phase saw a return to work only by those employees allowed to do so and able to practice social distancing in their role, together with a program to introduce Covid-19 safety measures within the main working environments and to prepare the factory for full re-opening and the recommencement of priority operations.
Phase two will commence on May 4th with a progressive return to final product manufacturing operations at both facilities, where working practices will be adapted to safeguard the health and wellbeing of the workforce, which remains the priority for Yamaha Motor Europe.
Queensland riders have expressed dissatisfaction with the 50km limit on travel from tomorrow (2 May 2020), as an anomaly has surfaced with boaties given free rein.
Under the new rule, boaties can tow their boat to a 50km radius from home and then put their boat in the water and travel as far as they like … “within reason”, whatever that means.
Similarly, the anomaly extends to cyclists who can take their bike 50km from home and then go cycling.
So presumably motorcyclists can trailer their bike to an off-road park 50km from home and go riding.
However, you won’t be able to trailer your road bike 50km and then ride further as you would be more than 50km from home.
It’s yet another strange anomaly that has surfaced as the travel restrictions are hastily drafted and amended.
Rule anomaly
It seems strange that we should be thankful we are allowed to exercise our basic right to go where we want.
But worrying about a rule anomaly won’t get us any more leeway on travel.
Of more concern is that some riders this weekend may not act responsibly.
If there is a resultant spike in infections in the next two weeks, restrictions could tighten again.
Remember how Sydney beaches opened up last week only to be quickly closed again when they became crowded.
“At least it will give riders the opportunity to get some fresh air and ride for enjoyment.”
However, he warns that if your bike has been parked or stored since mid-March, you should check it before heading out.
“Riders can make sure their bike is ready by checking basic safety and maintenance items such as tyre pressures, chain adjustment, oil level and that all controls operate smoothly,” he says.
“Always check tyre pressures when the tyres are cold and follow manufacturer’s recommendations on pressure, while the air available in servos is convenient, buying a reliable pressure gauge is a worthwhile investment and will give piece of mind that you are setting the tyres at the correct pressure.
“Similarly with engine oil, check it’s level according the manufacturer’s recommended procedure, which is also usually when the engine is cold. You might need to call on the help of another person if the bike needs to be kept upright and doesn’t have a centre stand.
“Basic checks such as making sure the brakes and clutch are working smoothly and not grabbing or sticking are essential to safe operation and should be part of any preparation before riding.”
Further easing?
Further loosening of travel restrictions will be subject to flattening the curve and that may only happen if motorists obey these eased restrictions.
There is no change yet in other states, but we will keep an eye on developments.
Easing of restrictions in Victoria may depend on how well Queensland goes.
In Tasmania you can visit a family member and in the ACT you can visit anyone so long as there are not more than two of you visiting at the one time.
ACT Police are not yet issuing COVID-19 infringement notices as they are prioritising public education over coercive sanctions.
In South Australia and Northern Territory there are no fines for leaving the house for non-essential reasons, however unnecessary socialisation is discouraged.
West Australian riders can ride within nine zones, but not cross from one to the other.
Official sites
These are the official rules for your state or territory:
She says NSW Police have not booked anybody, because riding a motorcycle is “akin to riding an exercise bike”.
However, that claim is not correct.
On Thursday (9 April 2020), a motorcyclist was stopped by police on Oxford Street, Gateshead.
Officers spoke with the 36-year-old man, who allegedly provided “multiple conflicting reasons for not being home before stating he was on his way to help a friend fix a bike”.
The officers deemed his reasons for travel as non-essential and issued the man with a $1000 fine.
Note that NSW Police have interpreted the rules to say people can leave their house for “brief exercise in your own neighbourhood”.
So it’s not a free-for-all under the pretence of exercise.
The Australian Motorcycle Council says they are “always pleased to see recognition by government authorities of motorcycling in any form, but especially the recent statements from Queensland and NSW acknowledging that motorcycling is allowed in the current COVID19 restrictions”.
“Most other states and territories also allow recreational riding in some form, and we can only hope that the more reluctant state government of Victoria join this nationwide approval and allow Victorian riders to get out safely and without risk to others,” their statement says.
After all, riding a motorcycle is both a physical and mental exercise.
Now adventure and dual-sport riders can enjoy the convenience of a Transitions photochromic shield, with the CNS-2 Transitions shield for the Shoei Hornet X2 ADV/dual-sport helmet. The CNS-2 shield detects UV light and heat, and automatically and constantly adjusts for the optimum tint to match ambient light conditions. Then when the sun goes down, it transitions back to clear so you won’t have to worry about carrying a spare shield or sunglasses again!
ADV and enduro apparel specialist Klim has redesigned its Carlsbad jacket ($599.99) and pant ($499.99), making them even better at their ADV touring mission. New fabrics, more abrasion protection, upgraded CE level 2 D3O LP2 Pro armor in the shoulders, elbows, hips, knees and back, improved pocket designs and better ventilation combine with existing features like a Gore-Tex shell and Spot/GPS tracker chest pocket to set a new standard at this price point.
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Norton’s Donington Hall factory
Norton Atlas Ranger and Nomad
Google Maps shows how far Ipswich riders can go.
Steve Spalding
A rider on the Old Pac (Photo courtesy of Valley Images)
A rider on the Old Pac (Image: YouTube)
