Electric car company Tesla is further developing its Autopilot software that detects lane-filtering riders as shown in this driver’s YouTube video.
One of the biggest issues about the rapid move toward autonomous vehicles is how they will detect small and vulnerable road users such as motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians.
In one incident in San Francisco last year a lane filtering rider was hit by a Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle being driven in autonomous mode.
Tesla has now launched its Version 9 software update to Autopilot 2.0+ hardware that has a more advanced “neural net” to detect smaller and faster-moving objects around the vehicle.
That includes lane-filtering motorcycles.
In the above video by Tesla Model 3 owner Scott Kubo, there are several examples of lane-splitting riders in LA travelling at much higher speeds than the 30km/h lane filtering maximum in Australia.
The system struggles at times to detect them both day and night.
In some cases it mistakes a bike for a car and in others the bike is in the next lane and passing right through cars!
Scott says drivers also use their ears to detect motorcycles and suggests an audio sensor to help the camera and radar sensors.
Remember advertising with motorcycles doing wheelies and burnouts and bikes draped in near-naked women?
Changing attitudes and the Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB) have virtually wiped out this sort of advertising.
Has this taken some of the thrill and sex out of motorbikes? Could this be contributing to the downturn in sales, particularly among younger people?
The motorcycle industry doesn’t seem to advocate a return to sexist and irresponsible advertising.
In fact, the industry is now so socially responsible about advertising motorcycles there were only two complaints to the ASB this year and both were dismissed.
Advertising complaints
One was for a motorcycle industry ad and the other was for an insurance company.
The IAG Insurance ad depicted a man riding a motorcycle to shops repeating “milk and toilet paper” over and over. He then stops to urinate on a tree before continuing to ride to shops.
It’s actually a scenario many male riders could associate with having been caught short while out on a ride.
The complainant said: “Public urination is illegal, offensive and unhygienic.”
In its reply, the advertiser said the “tone of the spot was light hearted and humorous in nature”.
The ABS panel considered whether the advertisement was in breach of Section 2.6 of the Advertiser Code of Ethics (AANA) concerning Health and Safety Unsafe behaviour.
It states: “Advertising or Marketing Communications shall not depict material contrary to Prevailing Community Standards on health and safety.”
The panel dismissed the complaint saying there was no nudity, the audio was discrete and “the inference of a man urinating in a deserted Australian bush area when appropriate facilities are not available would not be considered by most members of the community to be against Prevailing Community Standard”.
Good to know!
Another dismissed complaint this year concerned a Geelong Motorcycle Service Centre ad on the back of a bus featuring a motorcycle doing an “irresponsible” wheelie or mono while wearing jeans.
The company said the ad was artwork that depicted a rider with appropriate protective riding gear including protective motorcycle jeans.
ABS found that the ad did not breach the code concerning Health and Safety Unsafe behaviour.
They considered that “a still image of a motorcycle stunt being performed in a fantasy situation is not a depiction in this instance which most members of the community would consider to be unsafe or against prevailing community standards”.
This compares with the judgement to uphold two complaints in 2017 for print ads for Volley sand shoes that showed a couple siting on a motorcycle and not wearing helmets.
Other products promoting motorcycling is good for our industry as it promotes motorcycling as an adventure.
However, the complainant lodged their concern “on the grounds that it is misleading with regards to safety and irresponsible given the efforts by government and other groups to encourage motorcyclists to wear adequately protective clothing”.
“Indeed, in relation to helmet it could be seen as encouraging people to disregard the laws.”
The ABS found that the ad did breach the code.
Some of the other complaints in the past few years have consisted of sexism, unsafe riding, not wearing helmets, and even a Transport Accident Commission motorcycle safety ad that was “too graphic”.
Motorcycling is sexy and thrilling which is easy to advertise, if the bureaucrats will let you.
It also has a lot of practical virtues, but they don’t make good ads.
A crash that left a rider with serious injuries after his BMW’s spoked front wheel collapsed has prompted a wider probe into the issue amid calls for an official safety recall.
Gavin Chapman went over the handlebars when the front wheel of his 2016 R 1200 GS Triple Black collapsed.
“Although I don’t remember much, I was riding with others and as I braked for a corner the spokes on the front wheel collapsed, causing the disk brake to hit the ground,” he says .
“This catapulted the bike and myself into the bush.
“The bike was a write-off and I was seriously injured and air-lifted to Roma Hospital.”
Gavin was taking part in a charity ride about 100km west of his home in Gladstone, Central Queensland, in September, with about 50 other riders.
“It was a combination of road, dirt road and tracks, nothing too difficult,” he says.
“During the course of the day we rode across numerous cattle grids, potholes and washouts, but no rocks.”
BMW Motorrad Australia confirms there is an “international service campaign” where spoked wheels are inspected when bikes are scheduled for service at an authorised BMW dealership.
The issue affects 286 models of R 1200 GS, R 1200 GS Adventure, R nineT Scrambler and R nineT Urban G/S built between February 2018 to June 2018.
Probe widens
Mark contacted the Department of Infrastructure to call for an official safety recall.
We contacted the department about the second incident and a spokesperson confirmed they had conducted a probe into Mark’s report about loose spokes on his bike.
“The department has considered all information contained in that report,” the spokesperson says.
“The additional information you have provided relates to another recent event and will be considered to assess whether any further action is appropriate.”
RACQ Head of Technical and Safety Policy Steve Spalding says the issue is a safety concern and needs a further probe.
“This is the second incident we have become aware of in about a month and raises concerns about whether there is a more widespread problem putting other riders in danger,” he says.
“We would expect the bike manufacturer to investigate the causes of failure, whether there is a link affecting this model and, if there is, initiate prompt attention to rectify other bikes before more crashes occur.
“Manufacturers have a responsibility to make sure safety-related defects are fully investigated and to take prompt action when they identify a correction is necessary.”
BMW Motorrad Australia says the international service campaign has been “initiated in conjunction with the BMW Motorrad head office in line with Australian regulations”.
“In addition, we wish to advise that all motorcycles with spoked wheels are automatically checked and tested at every scheduled service.
“This has been standard practice since well before the R 1200 GS model was introduced,” she says.
The BMW service campaign was no use to Gavin as he says his closest authorised BMW dealer is about 450km away on the Sunshine Coast.
Gavin had his spokes checked by a local mechanic two days before the charity ride.
BMW Motorrad Australia says the owner’s manual advises riders to have their bike checked after riding off-road.
Gavin says there was no damage to the wheel rims from the crash, only the spokes.
Mark says his bike’s spokes were tightened at the dealership at 3000km. He rode a further 2500km on bitumen and 22km on a dirt road before his incident.
The “La Moto Volante” (the Flying Motorcycle) is based on his Lazareth LM 847 with a 350kW, 4.7-litre Maserati V8 that was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2016.
The LM 847 actually worked as you can see in this video.
So while this new video teaser does not show it flying, we fully expect he will have a working model that actually flies.
Lazareth rises
La Moto Volante is planned for release on January 31.
It appears that the bike’s wheels rotate outwards when the bike is on its centre stand and then pivot so that they are horizontal.
Then German Jetcat turbines in each wheel fire directly downward to elevate the bike, like a Harrier Jump Jet or a manned drone.
As he says on his website: “With two, three or four wheels, we do not impose any limit for the realization of each new project.”
Quite frankly we much prefer some of his other more-conventional custom bikes such as this Triumph Bonneville Scrambler.
We ave to ask the question … why a flying motorcycle?
It’s not that this will be the first flying motorcycle nor the first commercially available.
The Russian Hoversurf Scorpion hover bikes are now available for sale at $US150,000 (about $A212,500), which is nearly twice the price of the MV Agusta limited-edition Claudio F4.
However, it seems the Lazareth La Moto Volante might be the first that also rides on the road.
With a Mazerati engine and four jet turbines it should weigh a tonne and probably cost a fortune!
Who remembers the zzzing of an old two-stroke Czech CZ trail bike? For the holidays we are launching a series of articles about our readers’ first bike. We start with this article about an old Czech CZ trail bike from London reader Martin Welsh, 55, who says he hasn’t owned a bike since 1986:
In 1977, when I was a 14-year-old kid in the Adelaide hills, and my next brother down was 11, all our mates had motorbikes, and we wanted one. We didn’t even want one each; we were willing to share. We had no money, and Mum and Dad were spending all their money on our schooling, so we never expected to get one. Then one day in 1977, Dad suddenly showed us this ugly thing; a 1973 CZ 175 Trail bike that he had brought home as a surprise.
He’d bought it for $100. It was a 1973 model, but looked like a 1953 model. We had no idea what it was. It was built in Communist Czechoslovakia, and apparently, was the only vehicle exported from behind the Iron Curtain for 30 years, until the Lada cars appeared from Russia in the 1980s. We didn’t know at the time, why they were exported. We were kids. There was no internet then.
The one in the photo (top of page courtesy of classic.motorbikes.net)is a 125cc. Ours was a 175cc. The 250cc and the 380cc all looked the same, and they also came out in red, but most were like ours — baby shit yellow. In fact, their nickname around the world was “the yellow tanks”.
This is not my bike. I have no photos from the 1970s. They came out in a Sport version pictured, and a Trail version. The only real difference was the exhausts and the mudguard heights. As you can see, it was ugly. Look at that friggin headlight! All our friends had Yammies and Hondas, and they were cooler, smaller, lighter, and had nice colours. Most Yammie trail bikes at the time were yellow too, but they were proper yellow; not baby shit yellow.
This is the Trail version, showing exhaust and kickstart gear lever.
So Dad rode it home, pulled into the garage, showed it to us, and then it wouldn’t start again. He had wanted to take us for a ride. We spent the first night pulling the carburettor apart, and the magneto. Dad was a reluctant mechanic, but willing to have a go. However, he got angry with it and went indoors to watch telly. I started reading the extensive workshop manual that came with it, and there started my own willingness to work on machines. As a 14 year old, with the machine in pieces in my hands, I first realised a thing that has dawned on me over and over again in the 40 years since is that we shouldn’t be surprised that they break down. It’s a wonderful miracle that they actually work in the first place!
I didn’t find the solution at that time, and neither did Dad. It’s a two stroke, and they will never make sense. We cleaned everything and reassembled it and on the following weekend, we found it would start with a push, and we went for the ride with Dad, we were supposed to have a few days before. Dad said it wasn’t ours (me and my brother) but we were to share it with him. He had registered it, and intended to use it on the road. We could borrow it, but we had to look after it, as it always had to be roadworthy. We fell in love with the ugly monster.
It was a monster. At 14, I was just nudging 60kg. The CZ weighed 112kg with no fuel in it. We fell over together, a lot! It was also very fast. When we first went riding with our mates, and their much prettier looking Yammies and Hondas, we were a bit embarrassed about showing up on such an ugly duckling, but we soon found that our feelings were unwarranted. Riders of Japanese bikes knew what it was we were riding (we didn’t) and it was respected everywhere we went. People always wanted to swap rides with us. We thought this was cool, because we got to ride the motorbikes we wished we had, but only for a while.
Finally, someone showed me a Motocross magazine, and pointed out that our bike’s bigger sibling — the CZ 250 — had dominated Motocross all over the world for years. These things were famous! Ugly, heavy, communist, powerful, and famous! That’s why they were exported all over the world; they had Respect!
It taught us respect. The power was really unpredictable. At low revs, it was very much like a 4 stroke, with loads of torque, and very easy to ride and manoeuvre. With two hundred revs more, the front wheel was in the air and your were clinging to the handlebars like the streamers they used to put on the handlegrips of brand new kids bicycles, and you were thrown back so hard, you couldn’t stop the throttle! Many times, I crashed, and kind people stopped and peeled my fingers from the right hand grip, to stop the incessant “ZZZZZInger ZZZinger ZZZInger” noise screaming from the exhaust, as I clung on in fear. CZ motorbikes don’t have a pleasant exhaust note.
The thing was, this ugly beast was so strong and unbreakable, that Dad never knew how many times I crashed it. Only torn clothing and missing skin would give the game away; the CZ never got bent. Occasionally, I bent a mirror, and that was easily fixed. It was also so old fashioned that the footpegs didn’t fold up. They were these enormous old 5 inch heavy duty rigid steel things more akin to a Harley, so although we hit the ground horizontally many times, this 112kg beast never broke my ankle; not once. In fact, I found time and time again, the handlebar and footpeg would take all the force, and the side of the tank never touched the ground, so I didn’t even get my knee squashed, and Dad would never know!
There is a big industrial estate in North East Adelaide in Holden Hill, now known as Jacobson Crescent. In 1977, it was empty land. That’s where we used to go riding. Everyone did it; it was great. Even the cops were good to us, as long as we didn’t go into actual roads with the engines running. To us kids, Holden Hill was paradise in those days. One day, I was there on my own, with the baby shit yellow monster. As I said, it had taught me respect. I knew how to ride it by now, and even knew how to fix it when it stopped, which it did — a lot. I was hooning about, minding my own business, and a bloke caught up with me on a Yamaha XT 500, and waved me down. He was about 20. I was about 15. He was riding the Holy Grail of trail bikes in those days. The Yamaha XT 500 was the first big powerful (ridiculously powerful) trail bike. They were starting to win the Paris Dakar Rally at that point. His was about two years old.
He said “I used to own one of these! Mind if I have a ride?” People did that back then. Maybe they still do, but I was a skinny kid, on my own, and nervous. He saw my discomfort and laughed, and said “No, I mean, you can ride mine too!”
I did! Although still a skinny, lanky kid, I knew this was like giving me the keys to a Ferrari. This motorbike was the most powerful thing in its class, and was about two years old. It had three times the engine capacity of my CZ175, and probably twice the horsepower. He jumped on mine, and went ZZING ZZING ZZINGIN into the distance, like he’d stolen it, and I went gently VROOM VROOM VROOMING behind on this massive four stroke that weighed about the same as the CZ, but with all that extra power. (the seat was lower, and actually easier to handle) I was terrified of the front wheel coming up, so I treated it with even more respect, and found that each time we came around to the same point, my new friend wanted to disappear into the distance at speed in another cloud of Czechoslovakian communist smoke, and he seemed happy that his own XT500 was in safe hands. I loved that afternoon!
My younger brother was far more courageous than me on the CZ. When I look back now, he was a tiny 11 and 12 year old, and used to wind the hell out of that thing. Even now, he is much smaller than me, but even then, he spent more time in the air than on the ground. He didn’t seem to have learned the Respect Lesson I got from the Czech monster. It had a left side kick start, that also doubled as as the gear lever. If you didn’t gauge the compression right while kick starting, it threw you over the handlebars, or broke your ankle. The gear shift (one up three down) required you to take your foot off the peg because the travel was too great, so unless you had enormous clown shoes, you were in danger in a turn. As I suggested earlier, the power was schizophrenic, and unforgiving. These were MAD motorbikes. When you were totally in control, the feeling was unforgettable. When you locked the front on wet ground, your helmet got filled with snails and you wondered why the “ZZING ZZING” sound wouldn’t stop.
I sold the CZ in about 1985. I never rode it on the road. Even Dad lost the urge. I bought a Suzuki DR 250 4 stroke; a wonderful modern powerful 4 stroke, but only registered it for three months. A couple of near misses sent me back to the safety of my Valiant Charger and Bedford van. Mates by then had discovered the Yamaha RD 250. Yamaha RD 250s and RD 350s were built for mental cases. They made my CZ 175 monster seem tame by the 1980s.
Of course, if I owned it now, it would be worth shedloads. What I take from this is; just like my Valiant Chargers (2), they were MAD machines from their time, that I am proud to have owned, and they taught me respect, and also how to fix the bloody things when they stop being MAD.
Yes, I realised tonight I miss that old communist monster.
The Lazarus of motorcycle companies, EBR, has risen once again, but only in limited edition high-performance machines.
In its the fourth incarnation, EBR (Erik Buell Racing) will be hand-built at Grand Rapids, Michigan by new owner Bill Melvin. He took over when EBR went into liquidation in June 2017.
Roller-coaster history
It’s been a roller-coaster ride for motorcycle innovator and former Harley-Davidson engineer Erik Buell.
He started making sports bikes with Harley engines in Wisconsin in 1983.
His bikes included a number of innovations such as underlying exhausts, perimeter brake discs, fuel in the frame and oil in the swingarm.
Harley bought his company in 2003 and continued making Buell bikes until the GFC hit in 2009 when Buell was axed.
Erik reopened for business as EBR in 2010, first with race bikes, then 1190RX and 1190SX road bikes.
Despite some racing success, sales were slow and they stopped production in 2015 and was bought out in 2016 by Liquid Asset Partners.
Ducati’s new Panigale V4 has had a traumatic introduction this year with its fourth recall.
The latest recall is over a timing chain tensioner that could become loose and leak oil through the adjustment bolt on to the rear tyre. The result could be dramatic!
Ducati Australia confirms that the recall announced recently in the USA will also affect Australian owners of all variants of V4.
However, the official recall notice has not yet been listed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
It’s an easy fix with dealers will only needing to tighten the tensioners to specification. Stay tuned for our official notice, along with VINs of those bikes affected.
Fourth recall
This is the fourth recall affecting the new Ducati flagship model, not all of which affected bikes delivered to Australia.
Ducati Australia says an American recall for the Ducati SuperSport over mirrors that work loose from engine vibration does not affect local riders.
There is also an American recall over a faulty gear shift knob which could fall off the lever on the SuperSport and the Monster 821 and 1200.
“No gear lever campaign has been launched for our market at this stage,” says Ducati Australia.
If/when it does, we will publish the recall notice.
Even though manufacturers and importers contact owners when a recall is issued, the bike may have been sold privately to a rider unknown to the company.
Therefore, Motorbike Writer publishes all motorcycle recalls as a service to all riders.
If you believe there is an endemic problem with your bike that should be recalled, contact the ACCC on 1300 302 502.
To check whether your motorcycle has been recalled, click on these sites:
By Victoria Chase: freelance writer and digital marketer*
Sometimes a superbike comes along, and you can’t imagine how anything that comes after could ever possibly be better. These bikes are amazing feats of engineering with a whole bucketload of passion thrown in.
It’s always difficult to narrow down the list of the top 10 superbikes, even harder still to whittle that list down by half. Read on to find out some of the best superbikes you can buy today – if you’re very lucky.
Ducati 1299 Superleggera
A bike truly bursting with new tech, and with the high price tag, you’d expect it to be! But, don’t get on the phone to your local superbike dealer just yet. Only 500 were built and they all sold out before they went into production. If you keep your ear to the road you may be able to snap one up – don’t expect to get it for the original asking price though.
This breath-taking superbike is built with enough carbon fibre that its kerb mass is only 167kg. The 1299 Superleggera is one of the best superbikes on the market – if you can get your hands on one.
Spirit GP Street R
A limited edition, handmade superbike built in Britain. What’s special about this superbike is that it was designed for the racetrack but then built for the road. This uber-modern model features a wonderful selection of handmade bespoke touches, including a swingarm made to MotoGP specs.
If you want your chance to take one of these stunners for a spin, you’ll need some very good connections in the bike world, only 50 were made.
Kawasaki Ninja H2
If speed is what you’re craving, then this hunk of madness is what you need to ride. Even though the electronically-limited speed only reaches the standard 186mph (300km/h), you can feel how fast this bike wants to go. That missile-like power is thanks to the supercharger that’s been added to the 998cc inline-four engine.
This isn’t a bike for a beginner, or even an intermediate rider – if you don’t know what you’re doing the Ninja H2 will leave you behind in a cloud of tyre-smoke and asphalt.
MV Agusta F4CC
This could be the most controversial choice in this list, but the F4CC is very much able to hold its own here, so is definitely deserving of its place. It’s also deserving of the hefty price tag; only 100 were made and almost immediately they were all sold to collectors. This bike can boast to almost all of its components being handmade, and with a top speed limited to 195mph (314km/h), it’s easy to see why they were all bought up so quickly.
Claudio Castiglioni, who was in charge of MV at the time the bike was built, loved it so much he put his name on it.
Aprilia RSV4 RF
On a lot of superbikes, there is always the problem of sacrificing pure, unadulterated power for the latest in tech. This isn’t the case with the RSV4, which delivers both in bucketloads. This machine is built with some of the smartest electronics available, and the sole desire to be the fastest superbike in its segment. And with over 50 championship titles under their belt, Aprilla know what they’re doing.
Riding this bike is something all superbike lovers should aim to do at least once – although, once you speed away, we can’t guarantee you’ll ever want to get off.
Victoria has written for numerous publications in the business, automotive and motorsports spheres. She has a keen interest in anything on two wheels.
Police have issued a warning to motorists not to cross flooded roads and even to be on the lookout for crocs.
And they don’t mean those Crocs shoes or crocodile-skin motorcycle seats!
Heavy rain and flash flooding are expected on the Queensland and northern NSW coasts in the next couple of days.
Police and emergency services have reiterated their call: “If it’s flooded, forget it”.
Riders are particularly vulnerable to being swept away in fast-flowing creek crossings.
Police say they will fine motorists hundreds of dollars for negligent driving if they attempt to cross flood waters and get stuck, requiring rescue.
Crocs warning
But there is also a unique problem for riders in Far North Queensland … crocs!
With North Queensland well-known ‘croc country’ police near Tully came across a crocodile sitting near the middle of the road last night. Officer’s fortunately were able to avoid the animal however with heavy rains still falling from ex-tropical cyclone Owen wildlife can be expected to be displaced and may wander onto roadways.
If you think hitting a roo is a problem, try tangling with a croc!
You may have crossed this particular crossing before and think that the water is just a little higher than normal. However, there could be a sink hole underneath and you could lose your bike and then be swept away in the fast-running waters.
Flooded water is unpredictable. Is the level still rising, how fast is the water flowing, is it flowing at different rates in different parts of the crossing, is a sudden surge of more water on its way, what objects have been washed down and are now submerged underneath such as barbed wire?
There are too many unknowns.
Don’t be that idiot that goes playing in flooded waters and ends up losing their bike, forcing emergency services personnel to risk their lives trying to save you.
That was my mistake
One of my water crossing failures was in a low-flooded causeway. I was riding a big Yamaha Super Tenere through on the clear wheel tracks but the water was flowing faster where there was a gap in the weeds upstream.
Even though it was a low level and the bike substantial, the water velocity was enough to push my front wheel slightly off track, into the slime and down I went.
I was lucky not to be swept off the causeway into the fast-running creek.
It was a stupid thing to do and I acknowledge that.
After the storms have passed and the skies turn blue, there will be an enormous temptation this weekend to go out and play in the waters.
However, flood waters can take a lot of time to subside, so remain vigilant and cautious.
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