Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 89 i Old Bike Australasia

Operators of Wakefield Park near Goulburn, New South Wales, say they will soon be lodging a Development Application to the Goulburn Mulwaree Council to seek approval to construct a new 2-3 storey multi-purpose pit lane building to facilitate more corporate and industry events. Some existing buildings will be demolished, while current service centres (including the café, medical centre, offices, control tower, ticket/sales office, media centre) will be relocated. The camping area will be revitalised and access and parking areas improved to facilitate larger events. It is not known if the program of improvements includes track resurfacing, an area that has had much discussion among competitors over recent years.…

Motorcycle racing identity DOUG CHIVAS died at his mother’s home on the New South Wales Central Coast on Thursday, August 20 after a several years-long battle with cancer. First bowel, then lung. Doug is probably the only racer to have driven in the 1000-kilometre race at Bathurst (at age 16 – with his father Doug Snr. in a Mini Cooper) and also raced Bathurst on a solo (Kawasaki H2) and then as a passenger in a Sidecar (Peter Campbell) and finally as the driver – twice winning the Unlimited Sidecar GP on the Mount with New Zealand passenger Margaret Halliday. He also raced in the Australian Castrol Six-Hour race, the first time in 1974 on an RD350 Yamaha with Eric Soetens. They finished fifth in the 500cc class – ninth…

Of course, the range of singles expanded somewhat when AJS became part of Matchless Motorcycles (Colliers) Ltd in 1931, and for a while the AJS and Matchless products retained their own identities and designs. But gradually a blending of the two occurred and the pair became badge brothers thereafter. What became known as the Matchless ‘G’ range of overhead valve singles first appeared in mid 1935 with two 350cc models; the G3 road model and a trials version called the Clubman Special. In short order the range expanded to include a 250 (the G2) and a 500 in both single exhaust port and twin exhaust port (the G80). 1937 was a big year for Matchless, and after acquiring the manufacturing rights to Sunbeam motorcycles from the chemical giant ICI, the…

Ray Owen was among the country’s motorcycling royalty, having competed successfully in virtually every form of motorcycle sport; road racing, scrambles, speedway, hill climbs, grass track and short circuit. Aboard a spindly home-built device powered by an ancient 350cc Blackburne engine, he entered his first race, a scramble at Baxter in 1947, aged 17, and won. With his best mate Bert Flood, Ray joined the newly-formed Nunawading Motorcycle Club and spent every penny he could get on his passion. The new club was a hotbed of talent with names like Harold Tapscott, Neil Street and his brother Leon, Ivan Tighe, John Board and of course, Bert. And although he had been racing for 22 years when he embarked on the construction of his new track, Ray was far from finished.…

In the shadow of the Ural Mountains, rivers run in all directions, and before the days of mechanisation, rivers were the vital links for industry. In the sixteenth century, the quaintly named Ivan the Terrible, first Tsar of Russia, and apparently a very naughty boy, took a liking to the areas around the Karlutka and Izk Rivers and set up the community of Izhevsk which today is home to around 650,000 people. With abundant timber and plenty of water to produce steam, Izhevsk soon became a centre for ironworks. By 1760, construction had begun on a major dam, the Izhevsk Reservoir, but the seeds of revolution were already sprouting. In the Revolution, the ironworks and other major buildings were destroyed, but the dam stayed intact, and at the dawn of…

The star offering at the recent BONHAMS AUCTION in UK was the unique 1965 4 cylinder 125cc Ducati from the Morbidelli Museum collection. Prior to auction, a sale price of more than AU$700,000 was being bandied about, but bidding stalled at AU$605,000 and the little Duke was passed in. It is now expected that negotiations will take place with bidders in an attempt to get the sale over the line.…

HMCCQ Fraser Coast Days of Glory Rally • 7-9 August, 2020 – Kilkivan Showgrounds, Qld Finally, our Days of Glory Rally arrived and due to COVID-19 isolation and not being able to ride bikes, everyone was keen to dust their bikes off and get away for the weekend and a ride. Riders started to arrive Friday and set up, some from as far as Emerald to attend the rally at the Kilkivan Showgrounds. After everyone had settled in, we decided to travel to Woolooga Hotel for a short ride and a beer. Leaving the showgrounds with 32 bikes we got a couple of kilometres up the road and down came the rain but we continued on. When we arrived at the hotel the publican came out and gave his horse…

Tough customer Great article in issue 87 on the Honda SS125AE. I became the third owner of an SS125 after the first two got sick of falling off it. The front brake was minus the cable and after refitting it I found out why they fell off. The cast iron sleeve had been moulded off-centre in the alloy hub, locking the brake solid at the softest touch of the lever. A machining job fixed that. Every comment in the article was spot on, the mufflers being unobtainable by 1970 (locally), mine looking very tired after a series of laydowns. The bike had low bars with scuffed ends, not the high risers on the featured bike. Over seven years it was used as a road bike in original trim, learner bike…

Bucking the current trend forced by COVID restrictions, the Queensland Early Motorcycles Sporting Club (QEMSC) will be promoting the State Historic Championships on 10th and 11th November – a Tuesday and Wednesday no less – at Morgan Park Raceway in Warwick. Club President Peter Searle says the program will include all popular classes, including Period 5 and 6 Unlimited bikes, and that the meeting will go ahead regardless of border closes that may or may not be in place at the time. “While we would love to have interstate riders on the grid, we realise that under present conditions this may not be possible, but we are confident that the local (Queensland) riders will be out in force for this event.” Monday 9th November will be a practice day courtesy…

The Royal Enfield parallel twin 650 is now the biggest-selling motorcycle over 125cc in the UK, as of June 2020, while the Interceptor 650 model has been the highest selling naked style motorcycle in the UK for the past 12 months. The Royal Enfield Himalayan stands at number four in the same market segment. Vimal Sumbly, Head Business APAC said, “In Australia, it (the Interceptor 650) won the ‘Best LAMS Retro Award by Bike Sales Australia’.…

The Bulli Antique Bike weekend was due to be held on the 29th and 30th of August, but due to COVID restrictions, this was of course, not possible. So rather than throw the towel in we became very 21st century and went virtual. This consisted of videotaped Tech Talks, AMCA judging through Zoom, pre-recorded visits to garages and an online auction. The whole thing was pre-recorded in the Manshed Auction room using three cameras and a video editing suite. This allowed us time to edit and get the day working as well and as fluently as we could. The whole event has now been cut into the individual segments and is available on YouTube under Bulli Antique bike weekend or URL. The auction had a motorcycle section and had some…

The arrival of WW2 saw Italy side with Germany and the factory contributing to the war effort. Nearing the war’s end, the eldest son Domenico, considered the main force behind the business, foresaw an unfavourable outcome and secretly planned to build an affordable motorcycle to keep the factory and staff going post-war. His vision was correct as Italy’s punishment forbade them from producing any aircraft. On the 12th of February 1945 he formed Mechanica Veghera Agusta (MV Agusta) and the MV98 was born (see OBA 87). It wasn’t long before the MV98 was updated to a 98 Sport just like his Dad did in 1927. This pattern was repeated on most subsequent MV models. Domenico was competitive and believed in racing as the ultimate sales tool. In 1948 Franco Bertoni…

To be fair, Blind Freddie could have recognised the RC30 as an instant classic from the moment it made its public bow. It’s a prime example of what Honda does from time to time; create something with a single purpose in mind, and spare no effort or expense in doing so. In this case, the single purpose was to win the inaugural World Superbike Championship in 1988, which it (narrowly) achieved thanks to Fred Merkel’s skill and a small degree of luck. But a win is a win, and a championship – a World Championship, thank you – is even better, and Honda’s svelte V4 had earned its stripes in consummate fashion, although Merkel actually won only two of the sixteen races. Just to rub it in, Merkel swept to…

The year was 1959, and what was badged for export to the USA as the Indian Westerner, and later (following the AMC takeover of Indian in 1960) as the Royal Enfield Fury, was the sportiest-yet version of the model that had first seen the light of day in 1936 and reappeared post-war as the Bullet in 1948, complete with a neat swinging arm frame that was subsequently plundered by many a ‘Special’ builder. We’ll stick to ‘Fury’ here, although the featured motorcycle (a 1960 model) is one of the re-badged 500cc Indians that were part of the complex and ever-changing line up of models on the floors of Indian showrooms. There was also a very small batch of 350cc Fury model produced. With around 30 horsepower on tap, the Fury…

To commemorate the staging of the first Australian Tourist Trophy race, held on Easter Monday, 13th April 1914, members of the Classic Riders Club of Goulburn recently erected a plaque on part of the old course at Collector. The circuit ran for 33 miles between Goulburn, Breadalbane and Collector and the 3-lap race was taken out by Harry Jenkins on an Indian. Planning for the sign has taken a number of years but it now stands prominently on the former course. CRCG secretary Dale Towell says, “Our club hopes that this will be a much appreciated and often visited landmark. It signifies the TT race held in April 1914 and is a much deserving tribute to the participants who helped pave the way for Goulburn’s prominence in motorcycling history.”…

“While scanning pictures of my Father’s and Grandfather’s photographs I came across a few that were of Australians and taken in Australia. There are six or seven taken at Rowville and Windsor race tracks, Bert Martin’s 61” Harley Sidecar, and one of Rex Tilbrook, Frank Sinclair, Clarry Rial, and Fergus Anderson. There are no dates on any of them nor credit for who took them. I know that neither my father nor grandfather went to Australia and I don’t recognise any of the names. I did a search on Rex Tilbrook’s name and found your publication.” What Frank uncovered is a collection of photos possibly taken by Clarrie Rial in the late 1940s. Clarrie and his business partner Rex Tingate operated a garage business on the Nepean Highway at Gardenvale,…

Further to possible fires caused by ignitions Cam Douglas from Tasmania has sent me his views on the possibility of motorcycle fires being caused by various ignitions. I quote his information as follows. “It’s certainly true that an ignition system in which the coil is energised when the engine is not running can fire the spark plug when the key is turned off. But this is not just a phenomenon peculiar to electronic ignitions. Exactly the same thing can happen with a points type ignition for the same reason. It’s quite logical when you think about it. If the ignition switch is on and the points are closed, then the coil is energised. Switching the key off has exactly the same effect as the points opening. The collapsing magnetic field…

The latest motorcycle to be nominated for the upcoming exhibition, “The Motorcycle. Design, Art, Desire’, which opens on 28th November at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art, is the Australian Championship winning 250 Husqvarna formerly raced and still owned by Matt Daley. The Swedish machine, which was the first 250 Husky to be raced on the Australian East Coast, won the 1967 250cc and 350cc Australian Scrambles Championships at Mount Kembla, Wollongong, and was the subject of a feature story in OBA 64. Matt completed a stunning restoration of the Husky last year. Tickets to the exhibition are now on sale at www.qagoma.qld.au/themotorcycle.…

WARREN HICKS, an early member of the VVMCCSA died in Melbourne on Friday 21st August 2020, aged 95 years. Warren was an early and very significant factor in the survival of pre-1930 motorcycles in this country – and particularly in South Australia. He was a major provider of complete and project machines for restoration and many of his machines appeared on rallies in the hands of other riders. Warren was a teenager in pre-WW2 Adelaide and a keen observer of the old motorcycling scene even at that time. He had a prodigious memory and enduring interest in the unusual and technically interesting. This attention to detail was part of Warren’s life. He obtained a Science degree from Adelaide University in the early 1940s and upon completing his studies the University…

In today’s world, ‘Trials’ is applied to a form of motorcycle acrobatics that defies many rules, gravity being one of them. The feats performed by a select breed on ultra-specialised machinery are simply awesome, as are the obstacle strewn courses set to separate the great from the merely good. This form of the sport used to be known as ‘Sporting Trials’ or ‘Observed Trials’, and was immensely popular, especially in Britain, and in Australasia. The reason for its popularity is simple; speed, and thus performance-tuning of one’s machine is not an issue. Of course, careful preparation is still vital, as in any branch of motorcycle competition, but the deciding facts in Observed Trials were balance, throttle control, and an innate talent to pick the ideal line through a wide variety…

Burt Munro is best remembered for his 1920 Munro Special, “The World’s Fastest Indian” but he also had another claim to fame, “The World’s Fastest Velocette”. What is not widely known is that whilst he was working and competing on his Indian Special, he also applied the same obsession to a 1936 500cc Velocette MSS. In 1971 the Munro Velocette (by then enlarged to 670cc) achieved 132.35mph on an officially timed run on Oreti beach (just outside of Invercargill NZ). It is also recognised that on one unofficial run it achieved 138mph. Although fitted with some streamlining in the early days all the later record runs were undertaken with only a small Perspex windscreen. A late Works 500cc KTTs Velocette, running on alcohol, could possibly have exceeded Burt’s record, and…

Kay Jemison writes: “Little Charli, Bob Jemison’s 10th great grandchild sitting proudly on Bob’s beloved Velocette at the National Motorcycle Museum at Nabiac, NSW. Bob passed away almost three years ago and is sadly missed by his family. Bob raced the Velocette and won 15 lightweight races on the bike and also raced a Lambretta and Nortons. Bob came from a motorcycle racing family; his dad Tommy Jemison won many races at Bathurst and broke the Australian Land Speed Record for 250cc. Bill Jemison, Bob’s brother raced in England during the 1950s. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree; four of Bob’s grandsons race motorbikes and were taught when they were very young by their Pa Bobby. I guess it is in the genes.”…

Mark Loiterton writes: The restoration of this motorcycle has taken time since it was gifted to me some 25 years ago. It was originally sold to Peter Middleton (a former local mechanic, aircraft engineer and later a TAFE teacher in Cootamundra) in 1969, by Eddie Collingridge, the Yamaha agent in Cootamundra, and it was then sold to my very good mate Warren Crapp. This DT1 was successfully raced all over the Riverina by Peter and won several titles before he graduated to Bultaco about 1972. Warren competed on this same bike and later transplanted the engine and wheels into a Hagon frame that was all the rage at that time. Warren graduated to a Hagon JAP and the poor Yamaha was deserted and used for parts. When I became the…

In 1982 I was living in Glenbrook (Blue Mountains NSW) and scored a job as a station mechanic through the government employment agency in Penrith – in those days, via a 3 x 5 white card on the noticeboard – on Scott Creek/Willeroo, a run-down million-acre cattle station 50km west of Katherine, NT, run by a Texan called Luke (who had flown a single-engined plane solo across the Pacific to Australia). There was some excitement at the time in the Penrith Job Centre, as I was their first client to land an interstate job through their office; thus the sweetener was that they paid my airfare up there. So I flew to Katherine via Alice Springs and had my first experience with the Territory. It was a real adventure for…

The light, stable and incredibly versatile Ventura Aerodynamic Bike-Pack system is now available for the 2020 Triumph Tiger 900 GT Pro and Tiger 900 Rally Pro. The key to the Ventura system is the L-Bracket, which is made to measure to fit each model of bike and custom designed to compliment the styling of each model. Once fitted with L-Brackets, the Tiger 900 models will accommodate a range of luggage options via the Astro Top Box, Sport Rack, Pack Rack, Grab Handle or EVO Rack. The system allows up to 102 litres of luggage carrying capacity. Distributed by Kenma Australia Ph: 1800 251 145, www.kenma.com.au email sales@kenma.com.au Available from motorcycle dealers throughout Australia…

They say there’s a black sheep in every family. This is patently untrue; sometimes there are no sheep in a family. However for the purpose of the metaphor, we may assume that Roger Jessop, fifth of the Jessop brothers of which Edgar was the youngest, was that mouton noir. Roger grew up with myriad complexes, some of which may be attributed to his feeling of inferiority (well founded, some may say) to his mercurial sibling, Edgar; he the champion of the track, unabashed lothario, and darling of the social set. So chronic was this sentiment of weakness, Roger often talked of a burning desire to one day “see his name in lights”. To that end, upon attaining the age of 21, he changed his name to Hot Chips. Even then,…