Indholdsfortegnelse for Issue 109 i Old Bike Australasia

“The ride will be for 6 days in November with all activities including a number of interesting shed visits and other bike location visits, accommodation, fuel and breakfast all included in the ride cost. Not to mention the great Tassy roads that you will experience. We are hoping participants will bring their Japanese motorcycles but if you cannot get your bike to Tasmania, Bike Hire is available. “Full details are found on the VJMC webpage. This event is aimed at persons located outside of Tasmania in the hope of attracting them to our great state but participation is open to all. On the conclusion of this trip, we will be heading to Hobart for the National Historic Championships Race meeting at Baskerville on the 24/25/26 November 2023. The Historics will…

Probably one of the most remarkable things about this year’s Australian Historic Road Racing Championships at Hobart’s Baskerville Raceway is that the event hasn’t been held at the historic Tasmanian circuit before. Located 23km north of Hobart, the 2.01 kilometre circuit was completed in 1958, and has operated continuously for 65 years. There’s a lot of motorcycle racing history at Baskerville, including the story of the club running this year’s Australian titles. For the first 18 years of racing at Baskerville, motorcycle racing was organised by the Southern Tasmanian Motorcycle Association, which also conducted off-road events (and does to this day). The sidecar racing contingent of the 1970s felt like the poor cousins of the racing scene, so in 1976 their own club was established – the Sidecar Racing Club…

Malcolm’s company Xanox Design is at the cutting edge of precision commercial engineering, encompassing everything from the usual milling and turning to 3D printing and the development of prototypes, and has been in operation since 1999. This business operates from within the same shed/museum and like everything else in there, is spotless and pristine. There’s not a square centimetre of wasted space. It’s a pretty handy location because Malcolm and his partner Vicki live in the apartment above. Prior to the establishment of Xanox, Malcolm worked for Fisher & Paykel, specialising in production process design and machine plant design. Before that, he completed a Fitting, Turning and Machining Apprenticeship at Eric Paton Ltd, which was conveniently located just around the corner from Ken McIntosh’s business, which became a favourite haunt…

The New Hudson Model 88 Plus Power was released in late 1927 following the firm’s success at the 1927 Tourist Trophy Senior race, where Jimmy Guthrie finished second riding the lead works New Hudson. Guthrie later joined the Norton racing team and went on to many great victories. Bert Le Vack was responsible for much of New Hudson’s success in the late 1920s. He joined the company in 1926 after much success working for JAP as a development engineer and much of his work there carried over to New Hudson as many similarities between these two engines are noticeable. He designed the twin port OHV 500 engine which was fitted to the Model 88 as a modified version, specially tuned, and had many advanced features proven on the racetrack. These…

Ever since the 1935 debut of the telescopic fork with hydraulic damping on a production motorcycle with BMW’s R12 and R17 models, and its subsequent adoption as the go-to solution for front suspension on powered two-wheelers the world over, there have been numerous attempts to find something better. But so far most of them, with the notable exception of BMW on several of its models, have drowned trying. So that leaves the Earles fork conceived in Britain immediately after WW2 as a spare time project by Birmingham businessman Ernie Earles, as one of the most popular alternative front ends yet to reach the marketplace, with no less than 114,889 BMW singles and Boxer twins built between 1956 and 1969 all equipped with it. But there were heaps of other smaller…

• 6 May, 2023 – Gunning NSW The Coolalie Cruiser Motor Club (CCMC) held a one day ride for machines of less than 250cc and 30 years or older as well as Veteran, Edwardian or Vintage bikes up to 1930 (any capacity). The Telegraph Hotel in Gunning was the meeting place for early arrivals where riders and partners caught up for a Friday evening drink and/or meal. Saturday’s weather was quite sunny after a good overnight frost. Registration was from 0830 outside Gunning Public School with a pre-ride briefing by Charles Hillier at 0920. Around 50 bikes took off at 0940 for a short ride of 12km to Dalton Sports Ground for morning tea and judging by members of the CCMC. Around 15 partners came by mini bus to join…

• 21-23 April, 2023 – Inverell NSW Over 200 bikes arrived under superb autumn skies and checked in at Inverell’s Pioneer Village outdoor museum for Inverell Motorcycle Restorers Club (thrice deferred) 28th Annual Rally. Friday saw 112 entrants at Rob Day’s Gilgai Woodturning/Sculpture Park for a bbq lunch and didgeridoo demo, a hearty morning tea then a short 50km loop south via Stanborough and Tingha then back toward Inverell Airport and the lunch stop. Come evening, visitors took advantage of the extended opening time to look over the collection of 90 motorcycles amongst the 200+ vehicles and other memorabilia displayed at the town’s fabulous National Transport Museum. Saturday morning witnessed a superb range of restored and “patina” machines as spectators streamed through the gates of Pioneer Village, the mustering point…

Get back your stopping power Disc brake calipers have a hard life. The combination of heat build up and moisture intrusion give seals and pistons a torrid time, and performance goes downhill quickly. WeMoto now stock TRK Braking piston/seal kits for many models from 1970. All TRK stainless steel pistons come with a lifetime guarantee against corrosion and each piston is designed specifically for the model of motorcycle, for bikes with twin or single calipers. This one (left) is designed for the Kawasaki ZR750 C2 Zephyr (featured in OBA 108) and contains four stainless steel pistons (two inner and two outer), eight piston seals plus all the nipples, washers and external seals you’ll need to bring your brakes back to their best. RRP is $192.59 per kit, Product Code PKAG9303.…

In the basement garage of his home in Eastern Sydney he amassed a vast amount of memorabilia that included books, magazines, photographs, signs and brochures, as well as a number of motorcycles and parts. The bikes include several Vincents, and the 500cc Gilera Saturno Sanremo bought new from the Gilera factory in 1951 by Australian racer Tony McAlpine. Less than 100 of these production racers were produced in the original specification over a seven-year period, and this one is believed to be one of the last made before the racing Saturno was substantially revamped in 1954. The story of this rare Gilera was detailed in issue number 1 of OBA. The contents of the Greenfield garage will be auctioned by Donington Auctions in Melbourne, with a prospective date in September…

Through the late 1950s and the whole of the 1960s, bike sales had fallen into a black hole and no one believed they would ever come out. BMW came within a whisker of going broke, almost following most of its competitors into oblivion, but a bank loan late in 1959 and a new line of tiny cars powered by motorcycle engines gave the company some momentum. BMW’s bike production plunged to just a few thousands units a year as motorcycling itself crashed in popularity. Everybody, including BMW, was turning to cheap cars that were predicted to replace motorcycles as budget-conscious transport. Company management threatened to ditch two-wheelers altogether. But management didn’t factor in the influence of the many bike enthusiasts in the ranks, in particular technical director Helmut-Werner Bönsch. He…

That mantra was basically unchanged for Jawa, but lookalike? Nah. Not Jawa. When the company first displayed its new 175cc scooter in 1955, a common comment was, “Oooh. It looks like a pig”. True, with that long protruding snout, it did have a certain porcine quality about it. Mind you, pig was not a derogatory term in Czechoslovakia where the animals were much loved and prized by families and farmers alike. The Cezeta 501 was the work of celebrated designer and very handy motorcycle racer Jaroslav František Koch. Koch was born in 1893 in Mcely, a village in Central Bohemia near Prague. He originally sought a career in aviation and during WW1 worked in an aircraft factory in Australia. Koch’s first motor-cycle was the JFK of 1923, with a…

The DT-1 simply changed forever people’s expectation of a multi-purpose motorcycle – we say multi-purpose rather than dual purpose, because the DT1 was an excellent trail bike, a very capable road bike, and a highly competitive race bike. Not only did it sell like the proverbial hot cakes, it sent shock waves through the industry as Yamaha’s competitors scrambled to emulate the DT-1’s recipe for success – which some did better than others. That’s getting off the track a bit (if you’ll pardon the pun), because what this here story is all about concerns two of Yamaha’s many products (known in the game as ‘range extensions’) that built upon the DT-1 legacy. To complement the original 250, that process resulted in models from 60cc to 360cc, and later, beyond, but…

A day on the green The annual Show Day organised by the Macquarie Towns Club takes place from 10am-2pm on Sunday 10th September. The venue is the picturesque Macquarie Park on the banks of the Hawkesbury River. It’s a free day with lots of beautiful classics to feast your eyes on. More Amaroo Open Days WARWICK SCHUBERG has decided to open his wonderful collection housed at Sydney’s Amaroo Park to the public for two more days this year. Sunday October 15th and Sunday November 26th are the days when the doors open to this amazing array of motorcycles, many of which have played significant parts in our racing heritage. Hours are 10.30am to 2.30pm both days, with entry by a gold coin donation, the proceeds going to Warwick’s nominated charity.…

This year’s Bulli Antique Motorcycle Weekend looks bigger and better than ever with the swap meet, bike and parts auctions, tech talks and a great display of bikes in the main arena. We are lucky enough to have some fabulous tech talks this year including our special guests Ian Gowanloch and double world champion Troy Corser. Some other interesting talks will be on petrol tank repair, vintage leather seat recovering and repairs, how to prepare a tank for a tank liner, Rudge motorcycle history, Speedway motorcycle history and pioneering motorcycles, and reproducing vintage parts. We are lucky enough to have some exotic machines on display including a couple of factory racing Moto Guzzis from the ‘20s and ‘30s including the oldest Moto Guzzi in Australia. We have also been loaned…

• 29 April, 2023 – Yatala, Qld Yes, new management and a slight name change (adding an ‘s’ to Bevel) but it’s still the pinnacle event for bevel Ducati owners on the mid-east coast of Australia. The Queensland contingent gathered at Yatala where Russ Victorsen and his team handed out registration lanyards and pre-ordered event shirts. The NSW entrants made their own way to the Saturday night destination at the Henry Parkes Motel, Tenterfield. This year the theme was in celebration of ‘Ingegnere’ Fabio Taglioni who was responsible for the Ducati bevel engines and the option of desmodromic valve actuation. Themed artwork was printed on the Bevels & Bulls!!t shirt. Stage one took us to Desmo Headquarters at Byron Bay. Arthur Davies and his team were there to greet us…

• 24-26 March 2023 – Wangaratta, Vic. People came from every state and territory in Australia with some travelling from as far as the UK and the Philippines, all to attend the 2023 Australian Vespa Days Rally. Held from 24th to the 26th of March in Wangaratta, Victoria it was a fun event re-equating with old friends and making some new ones along the way. Not since the 1980s have I seen anything like the numbers of scooters that attended this event. Even back then, the most I could expect to see would be around the hundred plus mark, and they were not just on one marque of scooter. Vespa World Days is an international club event, which was put on by the Vespa Club of Australia. With over 280…

Paul Reed A man who was associated with motorcycling in almost every form, ROBERT ‘PAUL’ REED, passed away in Stanthorpe in January, aged 93. Paul hailed from Victoria but moved to Queensland many years ago to seek a better climate for his respiratory condition. In his youth, Paul was a keen clubman racer on a self-built Bantam BSA, competing several times at Bathurst as well as on the Victorian tracks. He was also an accomplished journalist, contributing reports, roads tests and feature articles to several magazines. When OBA began in 2006, Paul was quick to volunteer his services again, an offer we took up immediately. Paul owned a large number of motorcycles over the years, including an ex-Victorian Police Brough Superior 11-50, a 1936 Ariel Square Four, a Sunbeam, several…

Yet such were the fortunes of New Hudson, which began when George Patterson made his first bicycle in a small room in Birmingham, marketing his product as the Gem. One of the first bicycles was sold to a commercial traveller who had been working for Hudson Edmonds Brass Tools until it went into bankruptcy. George lost little time in taking over the company, which he renamed The New Hudson Cycle Co. In a not-uncommon scenario, the cycle range was supplemented by motorcycles, the first powered machine making its debut in March 1903, using a 2.75hp De Dion engine in a beefed up bicycle chassis. It must have been a reasonably efficient machine, as George won various competitions and was quite successful at the Shelsley Walsh hill climb on it. The…

The old shed door creaked on its rusting hinges and I spied Li le Chook, the Bantam curled up to Big Bertha the B31. I gently wheeled Li le Chook away from her sibling and eased her nose out of the shed. She was already loaded up for the exciting journey to Newstead, Victoria. A quick tickle of her carby and a gentle push on the kick-starter and she caught immediately, filling the air with her signature smoke. To say that Li le Chook’s journey has been unhurried is an understatement, for she was born for the slow lane. Living with her pace in the back roads of the Adelaide Hills has been a refreshing lesson on a stress-free life, where the worries of the day lift to be replaced…

The third Six Hour gets cracking By 1972 the Castrol Six Hour Race at Amaroo Park had established itself as the biggest race on the calendar. All the top riders were in it, and the manufacturers fell over themselves to prove their latest and greatest under race conditions. As did Yamaha that year with the new TX750 twin. Seconds after the patter of dozens of feet across the track in the Le Mans start, six of the seven TX750s embark on the six hour journey – the Pitmans machine was already out after Bill Horsman crashed during practice. Under way on the new Yamahas are Bryan Hindle (1), Ron Toombs (2), Robert Madden (6), and Allan Osborne (5). The Annand & Thompson TX750 (4) is still stationary, and the other…

• 21 May, 2023 – Canungra Showgrounds, Qld & HMCCQ Tamborine Mountain Area The disappointment of having last year’s show washed out was a distant memory with the 2023 Show held in brilliant autumn weather. It’s a massive job to put this show together, with our members and volunteers working for two solid days to put up, run and tear it all down. Show day saw a reduced crowd through the gates due solely to all the other events coinciding with the Ray Owen Classic, including the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride which took away a lot of patrons on the day. There were a lot of swap stalls offering their wares and also a variety of food venders. We had 74 bikes entered for judging, and I think the best quality…

• 21-23 April, 2023 – Newstead, Victoria Three days of perfect motorcycling weather blessed the 45th All British Rally which is open to all makes of British motorcycle and is the biggest such event in the southern hemisphere. About 500 motorcyclists arrived on Friday, with attendance rising to 800 on Saturday. Some of these were early enough to enjoy the organized ride on Friday afternoon which passed around Cairn Curran reservoir and up Mount Tarrengower. The rally sponsors set up a trades area which attracted a lot of attention, and there was a brisk trade in motorcycle parts for sale. Rally goers were entertained by a DJ in the bar area, with discussions to put the world to rights round the many camp fires. On Saturday, the campers were fed…

The current hysteria surrounding the Australian tour of American starlet Taylor Swift is understandable, given her many attributes, which include singing. Her affect on young girls, who contemplate everything from tantrums to suicide should they be denied a ticket to attend live performances, borders on high farce, but it is not a modern phenomenon. Evidence of similar hysterical behaviour amongst acolytes of celebrities stretches back to Roman times, when vast crowds of rabid supporters jostled for position to witness the orations of the likes of Cicero and Quintilian. Scalpers would reap a fortune with vastly inflated ticket prices, while the better off would simply bribe their way to the front of the queue. Cicero in particular mastered his technique of planting conspiracy theories and dogma, whipping the audience into frenzy;…