Newsworthy – 11th May 2015

Llewellyn Sullivan-Pavey

Editor

Photographer, Videographer, Writer, Motorcycle Racer, Dakar Rally Finisher and BRAKE Magazine's big dog, Llewelyn really likes to do things involving motorcycles. He also likes bicycles, coffee, pop punk and making horrendous puns.

Newsworthy is our weekly news update. Instead of killing your inboxes with re-hashed press releases, we’ll pull out a few items from the week, write our thoughts on them and let you read the press release for yourself.

I don’t think there is an ADV fan on the planet that doesn’t get excited by the prospect of a new Africa Twin. It’s slightly surpising Honda have called it that and not something like “Globerunner”. Sadly the latest information released by Honda contains next to now information that is solid fact. It does say that the bike will feature a new generation Dual Clutch Transmission and will stay true to father Africa Twin in it’s ‘principles’. It’ll here later in the year and it’s got one thousand of the cc’s. We can safely assume that also means a 21-inch front wheel and at that point all assumptions can be halted. There is a lot of reference to the HRC dakar team, who have been using traction control and other electronic assists during the event, off-road ABS and traction are a possibility. Otherwise, we’re still in the dark. It looks really cool. That’s all that matters at the moment. Enjoy.

The full release can be found here – Honda News.

First up is an awesome piece of motorcycle riding, combined with some tremendous drone footage, captured by Youtube channel MAD tv in their native New Zealand. The 1190R ridden by legendary Extreme Enduro rider Chris Birch is worthy of four minutes of your day. This is damn awesome. Adventure bikes rock!

The massive growth of the adventure bike market has meant that every manufacturer and their products have jumped on the bandwagon. While this might be met with some disdain the plus side is that the competition is strong and the more of that we have the better the products get. Last year the world was graced with Continental’s new and extremely well received TKC 70 to rival the incredibly good Karoo 3 from Metzeler. So step up Bridgestone with the amazingly named Battlax A40 Adventure. It’s radial, it’s new, it’s got a cool name, what’s not to love right?

Well, the limited size choices might seem a little odd. The tyres only come in 150/70 – 17 inch rear, so if you’re cruising around on a liquid cooled BMW GS or the new KTM 1290 SA then this post isn’t much help.

For those who are interested in more information click here.

Australian company Avade have brought a brand new heated undergarment to the market place. It’s a skin tight base layer, with a small 4400mAh battery and a wrist push button. We like the potential simplicity of the single push button operation, the decent battery size and the helpful price too. At AU$199.00 it’s not hugely expensive and that could be a deal breaker. With it being a base layer it’ll fold up into a bag making it rather adventure friendly. We’ll have one on test, keep your eyes peeled in the next issue.

Until then, hit Avade’s website by clicking here.

At Brake, we’re really big fans of things that are different and just a little bit off the wall. Step up the Rev’ It Double Dare project. Starting with a KTM 950 Super Enduro R, the clothing company have commissioned a custom bike project unlike any other. The end result is a wild looking, custom scrambler style, two wheel drive, v-twin beast. The clothing brand teamed up with with US based, two-wheel drive motorcycle specialists, Christini  For the engineers amongst us it’s a pretty drool worthy project. Have a watch of the video below and then jump over to http://doubledare.revit.eu/ to get your eyes around the project.

If you’re not cruising the world and find yourself stuck for interesting things to engage yourself in then why not get yourself out on the bike and doing something fun. First up is the MCN Festival of Motorcycling on the 16th & 17th May, taking place in Peterborough, England. It’s weekend full of bikes, shows, competition, general stuff and you have the opportunity to take a test ride on KTM’s, Triumph’s and CCM’s Adv bikes. Sweet as. For more info jump over to http://www.mcnfestival.com/.

Last but not least is the UK GS Trophy. The GS trophy is an adventure motorcycling competition, based on all the skills a budding globetrotter may need. Everything from navigation and problem solving to fitness and riding skills are on the agenda. The  course is entirely completable by any ability level and all off-road challenges make use of BMW’s bikes. We attended it last year and it was a truly enjoyable two days riding around the beautiful Brecon Beacons. It’s also subsidised by BMW which makes the whole thing a dirt cheap £99. Learn more here – http://www.offroadskills.com/off-road-adventures/gs-trophy-uk-qualifier You can watch our video of the entire experience below.

‘Till Next Week.

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