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The woman who set fire to a motorcycle  has been arrested by the police and remanded for three days until Sunday.

Taiping District Police Chief, Assistant Commissioner Mohamad Nasir Ismail, said they arrested the woman at 7.30pm last Thursday to assist in investigations under Section 435 (criminal trespass with fire) of the Penal Code.

Earlier at 4.27pm, the police received a report from a man who works as a repossessor regarding the actions of a woman setting fire to a black Honda RSX.

Following the report, the police managed to arrest the woman and the motive for the incident was that the arrestee was dissatisfied when the motorcycle was repossessed.

It is understood that the monthly payment for the motorcycle has been outstanding for more than 20 months and the motorcycle was purchased in the name of her son,” he said when contacted by the media.

He added that an investigation paper has been opened under Section 435 of the Penal Code (criminal trespass) which, if convicted, can be punished with 14 years in prison or a fine.

Earlier, it went viral on social media when a woman who is also a trader set fire to a black Honda RSX motorcycle near a stall in Pokok Assam, Taiping.

It is understood that the incident occurred after the woman refused to cooperate with a tow truck that wanted to tow the motorcycle because it was in arrears for 20 months.

The video shows the woman pouring a liquid believed to be kerosene or petrol on it before setting it on fire. The Fire Department had to be called in to extinguish the fire.

A total of 1,457 deaths from 3,500 accidents involving lorries were recorded from January 2019 to November 2024. The statistics were revealed by the Director of the Bukit Aman Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department (JSPT) Datuk Seri Mohd. Yusri Hassan Basri.

He also detailed the number of deaths due to lorry accidents by year:

  • 2019 – 274 deaths.
  • 2020 – 226 deaths.
  • 2021 – 230 deaths.
  • 2022 – 232 deaths.
  • 2023 – 235 deaths.
  • 2024 (as of November) – 260 deaths.

In addition, there were 473 cases of serious injuries and 1,076 minor injuries from the total number of accidents.

For accidents involving buses, 548 cases were recorded for the same period with 153 deaths, 120 serious injuries and 218 minor injuries recorded.

The police will continue to intensify monitoring and enforcement operations on commercial vehicles, especially lorries and buses, in an effort to reduce the alarming number of deaths recorded,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.

Datuk Seri Mohd. Yusri said the police would increase cooperation with relevant parties such as the Road Transport Department (JPJ), the National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK) and highway concessionaires for that purpose. He also hoped that owners, companies and drivers of commercial vehicles would work together to ensure the safety of their vehicles.

While we have quite a large offering of Aprilia motorcycles in Malaysia, there are several models missing from the line-up, namely the Aprilia RS125, Tuono 125, RX125, and SX125. These are available in Europe especially since the continent has A1 and A2 license rules. They seem to be selling well over there and Aprilia has refreshed them for 2025.

Starting with the engine, the single-cylinder, four-valve, liquid-cooled powerplant (shared among the four models) has now been overhauled to meet Euro5+ standards. The engine produces 14.8hp at 10,500rpm and 11Nm at 8500rpm, which at the limit of A1 license regulations. For comparison, the Aprilia 125cc engine’s power output sits in between the Yamaha 135LC’s (12hp) and Y15ZR’s (15.1hp).

The sportier pair in the foursome, the RS125 sportbike and Tuono 125 naked continue to use the same aluminium twin spar frame as before – making them the only bikes in their class without steel frames. They come with upside-down forks, aluminium swingarms, radially mounted front brakes, and LED lighting all-round.

Colour choices for each are now Kingsnake White or Cyanide Yellow for the RS, and Viper Yellow or Mamba Grey for the Tuono.

The other two variants in the Aprilia 125 lineup are the SX125 supermoto and RX125 dirtbike. The former uses 17-inch wheels front and back, while the latter has a 21-inch front wheel and 18-inch rear wheel. Both these use steel frames. Both machines come in Cubozoa White or Varanus Black.

Prices for the Aprilia RS125, Tuono 125, SX125, and RX125 have not been revealed. Wonder if these will be in Malaysia some day.

Aprilia had won the Africa Eco Race rally in 2023 in their first attempt with the Tuareg 660. And now, they will be back to defend the win with a 2025 Aprilia Tuareg 660 Rally.

The race will take place from 28 December and conclude on 12 January, again with Jacopo Cerutti, Francesco Montanari and Marco Menichini. It was Cerutti who won last year’s race.

The Rally version of the Tuareg 660 is new for 2025 and features new distinctive race graphics, going alongside the standard 660 which receives the usual Aprilia Racing colourway and several other variants including a ‘Dakar Podium’ colour scheme, Martian Red, Acid Gold, Indaco Tagelmust and Canyon Sand.

Montanari is no stranger to the Africa Eco Rally as he joins the fold for the 2025 edition, while Menichini is a new entrant to the race and will feature as part of the ‘Junior class’ which is designed for riders under 25 years of age.

Ahead of the event, Cerutti said: “The dream is to win again, in spite of the fact that there are almost 4,000 km of timed sections extremely demanding along the way where anything can happen. In the Africa Eco Race, navigation is always a huge challenge and each day can hold surprises all the way to the last mile.

Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola also spoke about the upcoming event as the Noale-based brand is keen to make another statement. “After last year’s outstanding performance, it’s hard not to be optimistic about this edition, although being defending champs comes with great responsibility. It won’t be easy to repeat the performance, partly because our rivals are even more prepared. Jacopo is in grand form and he is determined to demonstrate his full potential.

We are also counting on Montanari’s experience, who showed us his value last year, and on Marco Menichini’s skills in the Junior class. We are confident in the Guareschi Team’s great performance.”

Benelli has launched a slew of new models for 2025, including these interesting-looking small capacity ones, called the Benelli BKX 125 and Benelli BKX 125 S.

Both are built around the same platform i.e. shared engine, frame, suspension, and brakes. The differences are the BKX 125 is a lightweight adventure motorcycle, while the BKX 125 S is a naked/supermoto type of bike. Hence, the the former has a 19-inch front wheel and 17-inch rear wheel with wire spokes, while the latter uses cast 17-inch wheels on both ends. There is a single 280mm brake disc up front.

The engine is a 125cc, single-cylinder, SOHC, liquid-cooled unit, which produces a humble 14hp at 9,500 RPM and 12Nm of torque at 7,500 RPM. Compression ratio is 12.0:1, and complies to the Euro5+ emission standard. Its peak power is at the limit of the European A1 license.

The exterior asserts a unique style that is typical of Benelli, and is equipped with a vertical LED headlight and a triangular position light. In addition, the BKX 125 comes standard with a rally tower-like meter visor, a large shroud on the tank side, and a handlebar cover, giving it a silhouette that is just like an adventure machine. The fuel tank has a capacity of 12 litres.

The Benelli BKX 125 and Benelli BKX 125 S actually look similar to the BKX 300 and BKX 300 S. Prices have not been announced.

Despite a slowdown in the global motorcycle market, Royal Enfield (RE) surprised everyone by selling 21% more motorcycles from the start of 2024 to October compared to the same period last year. In terms of figures, that was 565,353 motorcycles, of which 52,624 were exported.

In fact, RE sold 110,574 motorcycles in October 2024 alone, which was almost double of Ducati’s annual sales in 2023. It marked a 31% increase compared to October last year.

The increase can be traced to the several new models in the middleweight segment, as well the increase in production facilities around the world.

Although the core of RE’s production facilities are located at Oragadam and Vallam Vadagal near Chennai, India, they also have five Completely Knocked Down (CKD) assembly facilities in Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Bangladesh and Nepal with a new CKD facility just opening up in Thailand, bringing the number up to six.

Enfield’s new Thai plant, which is located at Samut Prakan province in Bangkok and has the capability to make 30,000 bikes a year, is the firm’s first in the region and will give them even greater access to the lucrative Asia-Pacific markets, which is a hotbed for the mid-sized bikes Enfield are focused on making.

Our strategic intent is to have an international expansion strategy of investing in markets with huge potential to grow. Thailand assembly plant caters to this vision,” CEO, B. Govindarajan said.

Royal Enfield CEO, B. Govindarajan

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