Innholdsfortegnelse for # 55 i Old Bike Australasia

Motorcycles as commodities There is an old adage, told to me on many occasions, usually by Jewish people who have an inherently wonderful sense of humour and self-deprecation, concerning a crate of canned herring. This crate passed through various owners, each time at a profit, until finally the current owner decided to open a can and taste it. “This herring is awful,” he exclaims. “It’s rancid!” “Of course,” the man who sold it to him said. “It’s not for eating; it’s for buying and selling.” Could the same principle be these days applied to veteran motorcycles? In the past month or so, we have seen motorcycles, or even ‘projects’ (a euphemism for a substantially incomplete machine) reach astronomical figures at auction (see separate stories in Buzz Box this issue). The…

Speedway was huge in the ‘thirties, not just in Britain but on the Continent as well, notably in Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia. The dominant powerplant was the London-made J.A.P., and efforts in mounting a challenge to J.A.P. had seen companies like Rudge, BSA, HRD, and earlier Douglas and Scott, all capitulate. Like just about everyone else, the Czechs had also given up. J.A.P. owners were critical of certain aspects of the eventhen venerable long-stroke design, and especially of the price of spare parts, which needed to be regularly fitted if one was to avoid the inevitable and often catastrophic blow up that comes when old metal cries “enough”. When Václav Stanislav and Jaroslav Simandl – both pre-war speedway riders – journeyed to Britain as members of the Czech team for…

Kawasaki produced their first complete motorcycle in 1954, but by that stage they had been dabbling in the motorcycle industry for five years by way of supplying engines to various other companies. Included in their catalogue were a 58cc two stroke and a BMW-inspired four stroke single that was produced in 150cc and 250cc sizes. The BMW relationship itself went back to the ‘twenties when both Kawasaki and BMW were heavily involved in aircraft. One of Kawasaki’s subsidiary companies, primarily involved with aircraft component production was Shim Meihatsu, and this was the brand chosen when the first motorcycles appeared in 1954. It was planned to also branch into scooter production, but the accounts department stepped in and advised that it would be foolish to attempt to take on the two…

Beginning as a bicycle manufacturer in Coventry in 1874, Excelsior was the first British company to commercially produce motorcycles. The Manxman came into being as Excelsior, like a few of its rivals, struggled out of the Depression, where it had survived by selling cheap two-strokes – including the cheapest motorcycle on the market with a (British) retail price of just under £20. It was quite a comedown for a firm that had an illustrious racing history. Since 1920, Excelsior had been owned by R.Walker and Sons, a Birmingham-based producer of marine instruments, but which also supplied some motorcycle components to several of the Midlands manufacturers. Under Walker’s ownership, Excelsior production shifted from Coventry to Tyseley, Birmingham, where it remained until the final Excelsiors were produced in 1964. In the 1920s,…

Reading matter In this issue you will find details of the auction sale of the Brough Superior projects from the estate of the late Gary Ross of Sydney. Gary’s widow, Elaine, has notified of the following: “I would like to let bike enthusiasts know that Gary also had a very large collection of magazines, accumulated over the last 45 years. Among these are 21 copies of Old Bike Australasia. There are also many magazines for all types of bikes, cars, trains, aeroplanes, boat and model engineering. I would be happy for these to go to other enthusiasts for a minimal price. I may be contacted by email at Elaine.ross7@outlook.com Ancient Italian bits FOR RESTORERS OF OLD ITALIAN MOTORCYCLES, particularly Moto Guzzi, here’s a shop to try. Marco Ciabarri’s Retrò sn.c.…

Monarchs M.C.C. 35th Dargo High Plains Rally • 12-13 September, 2015 – Dargo, Victoria Many thought last year’s balmy weather for the Monarchs M.C.C. annual Dargo High Plains rally would not be repeated until after several years of appalling payback weather. They were wrong! Glorious sunny days, clear views of snow capped peaks of the Victorian alps from the track high points, and clear night skies rewarded the rallyists. As usual, this rally attracted quite a few classic enthusiasts, who are not deterred by the 17 kilometres of fire trails between the High Plains road and the Talbotville rally site. These enthusiasts are more dedicated to their machine’s function than its facade, more concerned about 10 thou’ of critical clearance than with 10 thou’ of lustrous chrome! Brendan Van de…

However, due to the alleged effects of global warming, water levels had risen to such an extent that the public roads race track around Porto de Funchal harbour lay underwater, resulting in the cancelation of the race. Freed from his on-track duties, Edgar accepted an invitation from Governor Jose Garcia Camacho to spend the weekend on his floating palace which was liberally stocked with fine Portuguese wines and exotic food, with a crew mainly composed of captured Moroccan maidens. Upon his somewhat reluctant return to the dreary Spagforth works in Giggleswick, Edgar expected a typically withering reception from Sir Carruthers Spagforth, but after explaining the natural phenomenon that had intervened to curtail the race, he was surprised to note a wry smile break into the craggy features of the guvnor.…

Perhaps the greatest racing motorcycle ever built, the 500cc V8 Moto Guzzi that raced briefly in 1956 and 1957, will be the star attraction at the 2016, Penrite Broadford Bonanza, to be held on Easter weekend, March 26 and 27. And the V8 will be accompanied by at least five other famous racing Guzzis, including a Gambalunga (“Long Legs”) V-twin 500, a Bilcilindrica 500 V-twin from the ‘thirties, one of the all-conquering 350 singles as raced to the 1957 World Championship by Australian Keith Campbell, a fuel-injected supercharged 250, and a similar supercharged 250 with carburettors. The air-lift of these priceless machines is being facilitated by Teo Lamers, a Moto Guzzi dealer and collector of long standing in the Netherlands, who is in the process of moving to Australia. All…

It’s a tough life being an international motorcycle racer. It always has been. Today’s aspiring world champions face the same dilemmas as their predecessors in that they must endure the travails of their profession long enough to prove themselves to the big teams, and try to avoid starving along the way. And today, the majority of the field, even in World Championship events, is on the grid solely because the riders have stumped up a fat wad of cash to secure themselves a berth in a team. Sixty years ago, the story was much the same, except that there were very few teams – just a handful of works squads with hand-picked top riders – with the vast bulk of the starters made up of impecunious privateers who literally lived…

‘The Pines’ Salty Creek, Edgeworth NSW 9th December, 1957 was a grim day for motor sport in NSW. An amendment to the Metropolitan Traffic Act, 1900, and the Motor Traffic Act, 1909, officially termed Act No, 69, 1957, passed through the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly of NSW. It became officially referred to thereafter as the “Speedway Racing (Public Safety) Act, 1957”, and after much debate and discussion, was finally implemented on April 2nd, 1959. Amongst the definitions in Clause 2, “‘Meeting for Speedway Racing’ means meetings at which racing between motor vehicles is held or carried on and includes meetings at which events, not actually races, in which vehicles compete singly or otherwise, but which speed is the determining factor, are held or conducted”. It added, “‘Speedway’ means any…

Now 47, Serge Bueno began his life’s work with motorcycles aboard a 50cc Yamaha TY at age 14, zipping through the historic boulevards of Paris. He went on to race motocross for 15 years, and he also contested the 2001 Rally of Tunisia 2,000-mile, 11-day desert run where he was one of the 60 who finished out of 300 starters. Serge tends not to quit anything he starts, especially when he comes down to the last correct nut and bolt to finish off one of his restorations. By 1985 he had opened his motorcycle shop in Paris specializing in unique racing machines circa 1910-1950 and also operated a fully equipped workshop on the Normandy coast, an hour from Paris. His passion for motorcycles saw him literally scouring the planet for…

• 9-11 October, 2015 – Mallala Motorsport Park, South Australia The AHRRC returned to Mallala for the first time since 2002, and after energetic promotion by the Historic Motorcycle Racing Register of South Australia, a healthy crowd turned out for the four-day meeting. Thankfully the sweltering temperatures of Thursday and Friday abated for the weekend’s races which were held in ideal conditions. An early exit from the meeting was star name Cam Donald, who lasted just two laps of practice before he crashed on an oil spill (just one of numerous oil slicks that caused much grief throughout the weekend), breaking the big toe of his gear change foot and putting an end to the defence of his Period 5 Unlimited title. That defence would have been hard fought, given…

Ducati Concours • 20 September, 2015 – Putney, NSW The Ducati Owners Club of NSW, now in its 39th year, has just held their annual Concours d’Elegance on a not too sunny Sunday in September. The event, as well as the display, for lovers of Ducatis and other fine Italian thoroughbreds is also a fundraiser for the Club’s chosen charity, the Royal Rehabilitation & Disability Support Network (Royal Rehab) and was held on the hospital’s grounds at Putney. A festive atmosphere was the order of the day with the addition of food stalls and the omnipresent sound of Cappuccino machines. The Club’s Regalia and Merchandise marquees did a roaring trade selling apparel and raffle tickets to the benefit of the charity. Many of Sydney’s better known Ducati workshops displayed their…

• 28–30 August, 2015 – Grafton, NSW Awards Another successful rally run by the Clarence Valley Historic & Enthusiasts Motorcycle Club saw good weather, roads and food enjoyed by our visitors. Friday’s afternoon ride was to Minnie Waters and about 40 riders took part with the infamous Grafton bendy bridge claiming another victim. On Saturday, 105 riders followed the Clarence River out to Copmanhurst for a refreshment stop before going to Coaldale for lunch and judging. After a delicious meal supplied by the members of the Coaldale Hall Trust everyone returned to Grafton (some taking the opportunity to do some sightseeing on the way) to freshen up for the evening presentation dinner at Grafton District Services Club, whose staff again did a wonderful job looking after us. On Sunday morning…

The southern hemisphere’s largest historic motorcycle meet, the 23rd AMCN International Island Classic to be held on the Australia Day long weekend January 22-24 at Phillip Island, will feature an Irish team under the captaincy of Mike Meskell in the International Challenge event. The green-leaf clover entry means five national squads will race the Challenge next January 22-24, with the Irish taking on the four experienced teams – defending champions the UK, Australia who won the title from its inception in 2005 to 2014, the USA and NZ. Rule changes have been introduced to allow for the Irish, with a maximum of eight riders from each country in each race – rather than the previous ten -making a field of 40 for the four six-lap races. International Challenge rules allow…

Let’s begin at a period from the year 1900. The internal (also referred to back then as the ‘infernal’) combustion engine was very basic with a very narrow rev range. It was a matter of tweaking the ignition advance, air and throttle control to find the sweet spot and keeping it there. These days we have a wide range of usable RPM and we use the throttle liberally to control speed. Given that engines were best left at their optimum RPM, the transmission system was developed to adjust the ground speed of the motor bicycle to suit various engine loads. Initially these transmissions were simply direct drive but as years went on the virtues of variable gearing evolved. A summary of this evolution leads us to a period when the…

In racing circles, the name Moto Morini will forever be associated with the giant killing DOHC 250cc single that so nearly humbled the mighty Honda squad in the 1963 World Championship. That fabulous machine, undoubtedly the fastest single of its size ever built, was ridden with incredible verve and aplomb by the equally legendary Tarquino Provini, and at the end of the ten round contest, just a single slip of paper stood between the tiny Bologna factory and the crown. That slip of paper was the visa denied Provini to contest the East German Grand Prix in August, for he ended up second in the World Championship to the works Honda of Jim Redman by just two points, and won four races – the same as Redman. Morini also chose…

Honda CL72s were never intended for England but in 1962 a batch of 6 black CL72s was sent to the Honda UK headquarters in Power Road Chiswick by mistake with a consignment of other new Honda motorcycles. There they remained as it would have been too costly to re-ship them – presumably to America. So the word was sent out to some Honda dealers that 6 “scrambles” Hondas were available in England. A motorcycle dealer by the name of Davey Bros in Ipswich ordered one, and a Honda dealer called Minions of Derby also applied for and received one. The first buyer of the bike for sale at Minions was a Mr Colin Wilkinson, who had seen photos of the CLs in American motorcycle magazines and jumped at the chance…

Vintage Enduro Riders Inc (VERi) Blackwood Vinduro • 30 August, 2015 – Blackwood, Victoria Despite being a tad wetter than the inaugural event, the second vintage enduro at Blackwood in Victoria attracted more entrants. There was the usual variety of machinery typically seen at VERi events, and entrants came from as far away as SA and the ACT. In the rainy days leading up to the event Club Secretary Peter Drakeford set out the 50 km course with a handful of volunteers, and stuck to his claim that “there are no water crossings, just a few puddles.” Conditions on the day were certainly challenging, with some of these so-called “puddles” more like lakes. At times it felt as if there was a greasy hill climb around every corner, and no…

• 13 September – Governor Phillip Reserve, Windsor, NSW Awards A change of venue (albeit just one kilometer further down the Hawkesbury River) did nothing to dampen enthusiasm for the Macquarie Towns Restoration and Preservation Club’s annual show day. Held in brilliant sunshine, the day attracted around 90 motorcycles for the display itself, plus several hundred more for visitors. Judging was undertaken in nine categories, plus awards for Best Original Pre ’70 and Best Japanese, the latter in recognition of the club’s late treasurer Steve Thompson. To encourage the entry of non-concours bikes, third place in each category was awarded to the best un-restored or original model – an innovation that proved very popular.…

HMCCQ Tiddlers and Twoies Rally • 12th August 2015 – Samford, Qld. The annual Wednesday Brisbane Exhibition holiday has seen a regular rally organised by the Pine Rivers area of the HMCCQ; the brain child of John Finglas who thought it appropriate for members to drag out their two stroke motorcycles and fill the air with the tell-tale sound and haze of blue smoke. For the last couple of years John has passed the baton on to other club members to organise. Last year saw a clash of dates so it was decided to combine the two strokes with veteran/vintage bikes. The result was a successful rally and healthy banter between the two factions. Both consume oil in different ways, but that’s where the similarity ends. The veteran/vintage guys were…