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We featured the news about a couple who are riding a motorcycle in the Kembara Jelebu-Makkah to perform the Hajj. They had to use the Himalayan Range route as the route through Myanmar was unsafe due to conflicts in that country. However, they faced an anxious moment when his wife was struck with AMS.

Mohd. Rahmat Mohammed Amin, 38, when contacted by Berita Harian, said they faced a worrying moment when his wife Nurazlinda Mohamad, 36, was struck with acute mountain syndrome (AMS) at an altitude of 5000 meters while passing through the Lhasa-Tibet route in the Himalayan Range.

“Thankfully, there were residents who happened to be passing through the route and helped my wife by giving her oxygen and taking her in a car.

“They forbade her to ride on a my motorbike and instead they put the wife in a car before being taken to a lower area on the route.

“Someone also gave my wife a glucose drink and now my wife’s condition is getting better,” he said.

Mohd. Rahmat said they had to endure riding in blizzard conditions with temperatures ranging from one to 0-degrees Celsius twice during the five days on the route,

With about 700km left before reaching the China-Nepal border, the cold weather had also disrupted the journey which was already a day later than the original schedule. Therefore, he will try to reach the border of Nepal on Monday.

He also hopes that Malaysians can pray for their affairs throughout the journey to be simplified so that they arrive safely in Makkah on May 5.

Mohd Rahmat and his wife started their motorcycle journey from Jelebu on March 19, crossing 13 countries covering a distance of 14,000km.

AMS occurs when a person is exposed to extreme altitude for more than 2 hours due to lack of oxygen. Please refer to the infographic from Mount Kinabalu’s Facebook page below.

 

The MV Agusta Enduro Veloce has been launched.  It is a new MV, instead it is “just” the third name for the Lucky Explorer 9.5.

It was initially called the Lucky Explorer 9.5, as an homage to the Lucky Strike-sponsored Cagiva Elefant which won the Dakar Rally in the ‘90s. Last year, the name was then changed to the LXP Orioli after Edi Orioli who rode that Elefant to that victory. And now, the MV Agusta Enduro Veloce. Production will begin in May 2024 and are expected to arrive in overseas dealers’ showrooms before the end of the year.

As such, the current bike is the same as the aforementioned LXP Orioli.

Highlights:
  • 931cc inline-three-cylinder engine producing the 124bhp and 102Nm.
  • The engine has a counter-rotating crankshaft to reduce the crankshaft’s gyroscopic effect.
  • Fully adjustable 48mm front forks and adjustable for preload only monoshock provide 210mm of travel.
  • Brake brake calipers are Brembo Stylema, gripping 320mm discs.
  • Eight levels of traction control i.e. five for road, two off-road settings, and one for wet surfaces.
  • The rider can input whether he is using on-road or off-road tyres and the traction control system will have distinctly different settings.
  • Other electronic features such as engine braking control with two settings, launch control, cruise control, wheelie control, cornering ABS, rear wheel lift control.
  • Four riding modes (yes, they are separate from traction control), Urban, Touring, Off-Road, Custom All-Terrain.
  • Traction control data is fed into a six-axis IMU.
  • A 7-inch TFT display, and the usual MV Agusta backlit handlebar controls.
  • Colour options are any colour you want as long as it is Ago Red and Ago Silver (two tone).
  • Recommended selling price in the UK is £21,800 (RM130,789.10).

There will not be five MotoGP rounds in Iberia in the future, said Dorna’s CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta.

The Iberian peninsula consists of Spain and Portugal. As it currently stands, they have the highest number of MotoGP rounds of any region. They are:

  • Portugese Grand Prix at the Alrgarve International Circuit.
  • Spanish Grand Prix at the Angel Nieto Jerez Circuit.
  • Catalunya Grand Prix at the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit.
  • Aragon Grand Prix at Motorland Aragon.
  • Valencia Grand Prix at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo.

Spain has four GPs, in addition to three test sessions year round. Such monopoly by a single country has fans questioning the need and reasons.

However, in light of Liberty Media’s purchase and the new owner of MotoGP from 2025, there will be a shakeup in the championship’s schedule. It is because the company is aiming for more than one Grand Prix in the United States.

The United States is an important calendar as the country is a major motorcycle market, plus it is the sole representative of both the American continents after Argentina’s withdrawal.

On the other hand, the calendar is already nearly at its maximum of 22 possible rounds. This means certain venues will need to make way for one or two additional American rounds. As such, the ready candidates would be those in the Iberian peninsula, or more specifically, Spain in order to retain the Portugese GP.

This was confirmed by Ezpeleta when asked by GPOne.com, ‘Definitely, but not until 2027. We cannot have more than 22 Grand Prix per season and certainly in the future, there will not be five in the Iberian Peninsula’.

Apart from Spain, Italy is the other country to host more than one GP per year, namely the Italian GP at Mugello and San Marino GP at Misano.

Aprilia is ready to defend their Africa Eco Race (AER) title which they won on their first attempt on the Tuareg 660.

The Noale-based manufacturer took the victory of the 15th AER race in January this year, which saw Jacopo Cerutti beating the favourite pairing of Pol Tarres and Alesssandro Botturi on the Yamaha Tenere T7.

Aprilia’s commitment to theAER followed an encouraging result in the Tuareg 660’s debut race in the 2023 Transanatolia Rally (TAR). Although Yamaha took the win, Aprilia finished third with Francesco Montanari riding.

Aprilia had also won the Italian Motorally Championship with Cerutti in 2023, apart from the Africa Eco Race and Transanatolia Rally. The team will also defend this title.

Jacopo Cerutti said during the announcement of the project, “We won on our debut, so expectations are high. The goal is to win the Italian Championship again and strive for the best possible performance in Africa. I started training immediately after the Africa Eco Race, and I feel in good shape for the new season.”

Francesco Montanari added: “I am training and preparing as hard as possible. I hope to repeat last year’s performance and improve my results, especially in the Africa Eco Race. We are also determined for the Italian Championship, and I’ll try to do my best.”

The project is now called Aprilia Tuareg Racing and is even more ambitious than before, with them competing in:

  • Africa Eco Race is scheduled for 28 December 2024 – 12 January 2025.
  • Italian Motorally Championship begins on 20 April.
  • Hellas Rally Raid from 24 May – 2 June
  • Transanatolia Rally scehduled for 31 August – September 7.

Massimo Rivola, Aprilia Racing CEO, said: “After such an extraordinary debut last year, both in Italy and in Africa, expectations are very high. The goal is to confirm our leadership in this new sector. We have a historic and important name as Tuareg, and to see such a beautiful and powerful motorcycle in its natural habitat is a source of pride for Noale.”

The Thai motorcycle industry sees an 11% decrease in the 1st quarter of 2024.

The Kingdom’s motorcycle market had enjoyed three years of consecutive growth previously, making it the sixth largest motorcycle market in the world. However, there were only 454,795 motorcycles sold (-11%) in the first three months of the year

Honda, while retaining their top spot, saw a decrease of -9.9%. Their closest rival Yamaha has lost -10.6%. Following in third was Piaggio with a decrease of -29.6%, and local brand GPS who sees a massive -52.2% drop.

However, it is not all doom and gloom for some emerging brands such as Lambretta who saw a +29.8% increase, Lion +302%, and EM +1,534%.

However, the drop is not due to over saturation. Instead, it is due to Thailand’s current economical state which is already in recession due to high household debts, lack of stimulus (investments) and economic reform. The country’s economy is the slowest in the region.

Despite hopes that the economy rebounds this year, the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) has reduced its 2024 growth forecast for Thailand’s economy to 2.2%-3.2%, from the 2.7%-3.7% predicted in November. The forecast was based on a 1.7% GDP growth in Q4 2023, driven by exports and private investment, but a 3% drop in government spending.

Several Thai news outlets had already predicted a decrease in 2024 motorcycle sales in as early as January 2024.

Thailand is the 5th largest major motorcycle manufacturing base with a capacity for 2 million motorcycles, behind China (23 million), India (20 million), Indonesia (8 million) and Vietnam (3 million).

There are 7 motorcycle manufacturers in Thailand. They are Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, BMW, Triumph and Ducati.

Analysts of a market research firm expect rationalization measures (including the withdrawal) of targeted subsidies will not have significant negative effects on consumers and businesses.

TA Securities also said the government should continue to reduce subsidies and increase income despite political pressure to achieve the annual deficit target of 4.3 percent for 2024 compared to 5.0 percent in 2023. Deficit reduction is expected to increase confidence in the government’s ability to reduce deficit and debt.

They added, the Fiscal Responsibility Act states to achieve a three percent fiscal deficit target between 2026 and 2028.

TA Securities also expects a gradual increase in fuel prices at the pump.

An increase in the price of RON 95 petrol by 40 cents per liter can reduce subsidies by RM10 billion. It is based on the indication of a subsidy reduction of RM11.4 billion to RM52.8 million in the 2024 Budget.

Regardless, the firm said the B40 and M40 groups to a certain extent should receive cash assistance from the government to offset the negative impact of rising prices of petrol and other goods.

They also explained that those income groups will realize their purchasing power is smaller.

“For example, translating an increase of 40 sen as 20 percent based on the current price of RON95 at RM2.05 per litre, the average consumer who spends RM300 a month on petrol will see an increase of RM60 a month in their monthly bill,” he said.

TA Securities said, following the price increase following the implementation of the targeted subsidy, it is important for the government to focus on effective monitoring and enforcement of regulations. The move is to prevent unethical businesses and individuals from exploiting the situation by dramatically increasing the prices of their goods and services.

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