TRIUMPH ROCKET 3
Just landed on NZ soil is the new range
of Triumph’s brutish Rocket III – the
2020 Rocket III R and Rocket III GT.
Taking over where the old bike left off, the
new Rocket III retains Triumph’s claim for
the most torque available of any production
motorcycle with 221Nm @ 4,000 rpm!
However, unlike the previous generation Rocket
III, the 2020 models are absolutely gorgeous from
every angle. Hat tip to Triumph for really making
the massive 2500cc triple look the goods with
its blacked-out casings and shining ancillaries.
Priced from just $34,990 for the “base” Rocket
III R, we can already smell the burning rubber...
2020 SUZUKI V-STROM 1050
Suzuki is a brand that thinks long and hard before
they throw upgrades at a model. So when the
announcement came through at EICMA 2019 that
the brand’s flagship V-Strom model was set to see
a massive upgrade in 2020, well, that’s definitely
something to get excited for! The 2020 V-Strom
sees a near ground-up refresh of the big V-Strom,
with the entire styling direction taking inspiration
from the legendary DR-Big and recent Katana
refresh as well as a much-needed injection of
technologies to bring it up to speed with the rest
of the class. While the engine is largely the same
as the current V-twin, Suzuki has further refined
it to ensure it passes the latest hurdles thrown
up by the strict European emissions rules. With
power figures of While the outgoing model is one
of the easiest to live with bikes around, Suzuki has
ensured that the 2020 V-Strom charges into the
new decade the best that it can be, and we can’t
wait to ride it to see how much it has improved.
2020 HONDA CRF1100L AFRICA TWIN
Honda’s Africa Twin nameplate is legendary in
Adventure circles, but the last iteration of the
famous name was quickly overshadowed by rivals.
The new CRF1100L Africa Twin looks set to
bring the Africa Twin back to the forefront
of the Adventure class with a bigger parallel-
twin engine and a host of electronics to
help bring the bike up to speed with the
rest of the 1000cc adventure class.
While the old Africa Twin had its fair share of
electronics for the time, times have changed.
With that in mind, Honda hasn’t dropped
the ball and have added a six-axis inertial
measurement unit (IMU) allowing for the
addition of new rider aids including wheelie
control, cornering ABS, rear-lift control, DCT
cornering detection and cornering lights.
Honda is also delivering the Africa Twin in
two distinct flavours with a base Africa Twin
and a larger more touring focused Adventure
Sports variant confirmed for our market.
The standard version has an improved
renewed focus in off-road use, with a
shorter, fixed windscreen and a 19 Litre fuel
tank in addition to its revised styling.
The Adventure Sports offers real long-haul
ability and practicality, boasting intelligent
Showa Electronically Equipped Ride Adjustment
suspension (EERA), tubeless wheels, heated
grips, accessory socket, larger skid plate,
aluminium rear rack and a massive 24.6 litre
tank. We can’t wait to have a go and find out
just how the new and improved Africa Twin
compares to the rest of the segment.
KIWI RIDER 15