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News Oct 2026
Harley-Davidson Sprint SS-350 – job
done, Oct 9
It's taken a little time
and a lot of patience – our Harley-Aermacchi is now
where we want it to be.
That is, not a concours
bike and rather a good reliable and presentable rider
that looks and performs the way the factory intended.
Suzuki Impulse – today's retro oddball,
Oct 8
Clearly produced for the
domestic market, the Suzuki GSX400 Impulse S of the
late 1990s offered a stylish Wes Cooley-inspired retro
piece that most (if not all) the western markets
missed out on. What a shame.
It hails from 1996-98
and we reckon there might be an opportunity for Suzuki
to have another crack at it. See our
mini-feature.
Retro Triumph T40 – single of the week,
Oct 7
Triumph's
single-cylinder 400 series has been going gangbusters
internationally, with good reason according to a
couple of owners we know.
The latest variant
is a T40 series, aka the Bonneville – which is
both welcome and inevitable. It arrives in
Australia during the first quarter of 2027.
Note the revival of
the eyebrow tank badge and 1959 T120-based colour
scheme in the example shown here. We're sorely
tempted...
See the
Triumph Australia website.
See our
Ian Falloon story on the Meriden original from
that year.
Harley and the tough years,
Oct 7
We've heard lots of
theories (mostly from older riders looking through
a narrow lens) about how the motorcycle market
overall is going to hell in a hand basket, which
simply is not true – not internationally.
This analysis from Michael Uhlarik, aka The
Motorcycle Insider via Substack, argues
that, in reality, the market and the profile of
the people who are buying is changing rather than
shrinking.
That has had an
enormous impact on the recently dwindling fortunes
of Harley-Davidson.
He says: "I’ve
written before about how dangerous it is to
benchmark a company against its own peak, because
peaks are rarely just about good management —
they’re about tailwinds nobody chooses to remember
once they’re gone.
"Harley in 2006
wasn’t the product of superior product strategy.
It was the product of a very specific, very
temporary alignment of forces: the largest,
wealthiest generation in American history moving
through its prime disposable-income years in
exactly the demographic window — mid-40s to
mid-50s — where big-twin cruiser ownership peaks…"
It's a
long piece and worth reading in full – put
some time aside.
Meanwhile the motor
company earlier this year had a crack at
re-imagining an iconic Willie G cafe racer design.
See that
story.
ZXMOTO launches, Oct 6
The formidable start-up
Chinese maker ZXMOTO is opening the order books in
Australia, and has now released pricing.
It promises a broad if
not deep range including sports bikes, nakeds,
motocross and a rally raid offering – some with
learner variants.
The top-of-the-range
820RR triple-cylinder sports bike shown at top is
listed at $Au14,490 (US$10,100, GB£7600, €9000) on the
road.
Meanwhile the 500F
inline four above is Au$9990 (US$7000, GB£5300,
€6200).
As part of its plan
to get 'known' around the globe, the company dived
into the WorldSSP (supersport) championship this
year and is currently second in the rider
championship standings and third in the
manufacturer title. See the
tables.
Our
friends at InfoMoto have a good
backgrounder on the company.
See the ZXMOTO Australia
website.
Flashback: a singular decade,
Oct 6
From our Travels
with Guido series: There was a little
quiet contemplation over a glass of cheap and
cheerful shiraz, in the 1950s 'portable' site
office nailed to the back of our house – which
has for decades been my writing den. The topic?
Pondering the single-cylinder motorcycles that
remain in the fleet. One of them is the
Russell-mobile, the mighty 1978 Yamaha SR500.
More Travels
with Guido stories
Big Horn Kawasaki, Oct 3
It's circa 1970 and Kawasaki has launched the mighty Big Horn 350 two-stroke dual-purpose trail bike, with lots of clever thinking on board.
See our model profile, including a period review and one for sale in Australia.
Indian mystery, Oct 2
Among the shuffling and nonsense
going on at Chateau Guido this week, I
picked up a new Indian Roadmaster.
As you can see it is about as
subtle as a smack in the head with an anvil.
See
the story.
More
Travels with Guido columns.
Night Kat, Oct 1
This evening's
motorcycle delivery was a 1990 Suzuki Katana 1100
Limited, out of Japan via Brad's
Vintage Cycles in Queensland.
We now need to get it
registered and then ride it. Early indications are
it's an absolute gem. More to come...
We had another
example a little while back, which you
can read about here.
See how its numbers stacked up at Motorcycle Specs.
Hannibal's birthday, Oct 1
Our first Hayabusa,
named Hannibal, has just been treated to a
'birthday' – that is a general health check and
service by the good folk at Mick Hone Motorcycles, in
Melbourne.
This is a bike that was
run-in by the Ulysses Club in 2003 and then given to
tuning maestro Phil Tainton, who managed to get an
alarming amount of horsepower out of it without
resorting to big pistons or a turbo.
More to come in this
week's Sunday Shed Wrap column.
In the meantime you can
read more about the bike, here.
***
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