Australian Motorcycle News - June 21, 2018

amcn.com.au 21

King Kenan

Thank you for the

excellent feature on

Kenan Sofuoglu in the

latest issueofAMCN

(Vol 67 No 24).

Being of Turkish

decent, a Muslim and a

fan of motorcycle racing,

Kenan hasbeenmyhero

for many years, and

your featurewasafitting

tribute toariderwhohas

done so much for the sport

on and off the track.

While otherridersusethe

Supersport category as a

stepping stone, he became a

specialist of the 600cc class.

Each year he would wait

patientlyforthenewrecruits

toturnup.Hewouldthen

size up his competition’s

strengths and weaknesses

before handing out another

masterclassinhowtowin

notjustraces,buttitles.His

abilitytodothisstunted

afewcareers,butIwould

ay,ifyoucan’tbeatSofu,

you have not earned the

right to progress!

The good news for

Turkishfansisthat

Kenan is not leaving

racing in his past; he is

stopping racing on the

track but now wants the

challenge of making the

race in Istanbul happen.

Hehaswonalotonthe

racetrack,andIthinkhis

determination will win this

one also.

Iwishhehadleftthe

Supersport class at the end

of the current season with

anothertitle,butIcan’t

complain about that not

happening.

Omar Daglipinar

Via email

Thanks Omar, our

WorldSBK man-on-the-

ground Gordon Ritchie did

an excellent job with the

Kenan Sofuoglu feature.

I think it was easy for

him because, like almost

everyone involved with the

sport, Gordon is a Sofuoglu

fan as well. Chris

access

AIR YOUR THOUGHTS OR VENT YOUR SPLEEN

Access, AMCN, PO Box 20154, World Square, NSW, 2002 [email protected]

Letter of the issue

Draggin gear!

Pair of Draggin jeans

http://www.dragginjeans.net

Include your full name and address,

via letter or email. Long letters will be cut

to fit, so keep ’em short and to the point.

Oh, and the views expressed by readers here

are not necessarily those of the editor

Letter

of the

issue

→

“Each year Kenan would wait patiently for the

new recruits to turn up before handing out

another masterclass in how to win”

→

Unrestricted
restriction
I would like to highlight a
possible issue for folk who
buy a learner-approved
bike, should they wish
to derestrict it once they
have obtained their full
licence. They may find
their (hopefully) still shiny
new bike is difficult to get
insurance cover for once
derestricted.
A biker for many years,
and having just turned the
big seven-0, I decided to
trade in my Ducati Super
Sport for something more
upright and manageable

• in short, a more
  relaxed daily ride.
  I decided on a
  Kawasaki Ninja
  650cc and ordered
  a non-L AMS with
  very striking blue
  livery from my

local Kawasaki dealer.

The dealer told me he

only imported the Ninja

in LAMS form, but would

easily de-LAMS it for me

free of charge.

I said I would sort my

insurance with the guys I

have been with for years. I

was, however, a little taken

aback when my insurance

company would not cover

the bike. They were happy

to insure a L AMS or a non-

LAMS, but not a LAMS bike

that has been de-restricted

and modified

from the manufacturer’s

intended performance and

handling parameters.

I eventually obtained

insurance through a

Kawasaki preferred broker.

My understanding of

L AMS bikes is that they

start life as mostly the

full-powered versions with

the necessary intended

performance and handling,

and the restricted LAMS

modified version would fall

well inside this envelope.

When de-restricted, they

merely revert to the

original bike.

On further investigation,

it would seem very few

insurance companies

are willing to insure

de-restricted LAMS

models. If I am correct,

there are undoubtedly

some very unhappy

bunnies out there.

Perhaps it would be

wise to check with one’s

insurance broker before the

purchase of a former LAMS-

modified bike.

Malcolm King

Samford Village, Qld

Thanks for the heads

up, Malcolm. You hit the

nail on the head when you

said “bike that has been

de-restricted and modified

from the manufacturer’s

intended performance

parameters”. As you say,

you and I both know the

bike has been initially

designed to full-powered

spec, but since someone’s

gone in and fiddled with it

and it’s no longer as it rolled

out of the factory, it falls

into a grey area that many

insurance companies’ box

tickers are not prepared to

tread. Many people have,

s

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T

K