Daily motorbike news, views & reviews
Chicken strips can be one of the biggest causes of embarrassment for riders and may even be a safety risk. In case you’ve been riding in a vacuum, “chicken strips” is a term for the shiny, unused part of a motorcycle tyre’s tread. They signify that the rider hasn’t leaned the bike over very far …
(Sponsored post) Unexpected repairs are the bane of a motorcyclist’s life. No, we’re not talking about changing your tyres or brakes. Those are maintenance costs that you should have planned for. What we’re talking about here is when your chain snaps or you find out that rust has formed on the inside of your old …
Riders with spoked wheels on their bikes are frustrated at not being able to get some service station air hoses to fit their metal valve stems. The owner of a Queensland service station says he suspects one rider became so frustrated he found a solution to the problem by bending their air hose nozzle. “I’ve …
If you are precious about your motorcycle tyre pressures, you should carry an accurate portable pressure gauge as many service station air hoses are damaged or inaccurate. That’s because they are often abused by motorists. Modern flexible air hoses with the digital pressure display on a separate fixed post are more accurate and less likely …
Bridgestone’s new Battlax Adventurecross AX41 tyres have arrived in Australia to get adventure riders dirtier, taking them further off the beaten track. The problem with making an adventure tyre more aggressive is that it usually compromises on-road stability and shortens the life of the tyre. The biggest destroyers of adventure tyres are the braking and …
Michelin Anakee Adventure tyres have now arrived in Australia with more sizes arriving in May. The tyres, unveiled at the EICMA Motorcycle Show in Milan in November, are designed for riders who do about 80% tarmac touring and about 20% dirt riding. Michelin Australia has now announced the sizes and pricing: Rear: 170/60 R 17 M/C …
French tyre company Michelin has made a new Anakee Adventure tyre specifically for those riders who don’t like as much adventure as they do touring. The new Michelin Anakee Adventure will be unveiled at the EICMA Motorcycle Show in Milan this week (November 6-11). It will be available in Australia from January. It has been …
Do you know what the codes on the sides of your tyres mean, what sort of tyres you are riding on and how they are made? Motorcycle industry veteran Dale Schmidtchen takes a look at the construction of your motorcycle tyres in part two of a two-part insight into tyres. Click here for part 1 …
Have you ever wondered what your motorcycle tyres are made of, why they are black and shiny and whether scrubbing off the shine and warming up the tyres improves grip? Motorcycle industry veteran Dale Schmidtchen takes a look at tyre compounds and answers these questions in part one of a two-part insight into tyres. Click …
Mitas is a well-known brand of motorcycle tyre among off-road riders, but is not so well known as a high-performance road tyre company. So when motorcycle industry veteran Dale Schmidtchen needed new tyres for his Kawasaki ZR-7, he was at first reticent about fitting Mitas Sport Force+ tyres to his bike. Here is his first-impression …