Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 92 i Old Bike Australasia

The great Joel Robert In this issue you will find the news of the passing of one of the world’s greatest motocross riders, the Belgian legend Joel Robert, aged 77. As strong as an ox and with an appetite for his country’s national drink (beer) that knew no bounds, Joel was the man that bought the sport to the attention of the masses, and particularly to the Americans, who subsequently commandeered the sport in the usual American way. Robert was six times World Champion, with 50 Grand Prix wins, which is an incredible feat, and stood for more than 30 years until it was broken by another Belgian motocross legend, Stefan Everts. Moreover, he was a motocross machine that brought a new, spectacular style to the sport and captured the…

If you’ve got something to say, why not write to Old Bike Australasia and get it out to those that might be interested. Send your letters to… Blow Your Own Old Bike Australasia PO Box 95, Kellyville NSW 2155 Ph: 02 9672 6899 E-mail: scaysbrook34@bigpond.com Letters to Old Bike Australasia must carry the senders name, address and/or an email contact. By submitting your letter for publication you agree that it may be edited for legal, space or other reasons. The letters printed here do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the editor or staff of this magazine. Letters may be shortened or abridged to fit the space available.…

Several readers spotted some anomalies with the story on speedway star Fay Taylour in OBA 91. Firstly, a typo in the caption for the shot of Fay driving the V8/60 speedcar. The former driver was Frank ‘Satan’ Brewer, not Stan. Sorry about the missing ‘a’. Secondly, the shot of Fay sitting in the speedcar bearing the Union Jack on the tail was taken at the Sydney Sports Ground, not Cumberland Oval. And finally, the shot captioned “Fay in her Rudge days” is not Fay at all, but ‘Cyclone’ Billy Lamont.…

Antony Gullick reports, “The AMCA of Australia has hit the ground running this year and is getting ready for the biggest Bulli yet. 2020 saw us going online and doing a “virtual” Bulli but in 2021 we are live and in living colour. 2021 will feature a Japanese theme, so we would like to invite owners of all Japanese bikes and scooters over 35 years old to join us for the weekend. Each year will have a different theme, 2019 were Vincents and the Ehret Lightning, 2017 the Hailwood Ducati and in future years we will be inviting different groups and marques to feature. Bulli, just north of Wollongong, NSW, is on the 28th and 29th of August and will have; Motorcycle swap meet, Tech Talks, AMCA judging, Classic Motorcycle…

More than 230 motorcycles have been totally destroyed in a fire at the famous Top Mountain Crosspoint Motorcycle Museum on the Italy/Austria border on January 18, 2021. The museum sits at the top of the Timmelsjoch Pass – a very popular motorcycling route over the Alps - and was established by twin brothers Alban and Attila Scheiber to showcase their private collection. The bikes lost included brands such as Flying Merkel, Sunbeam, Brough Superior and Zundapp, as well as numerous lesser-known European makes. Around 110 fire fighters fought the blaze, but the timber building, which had no sprinkler system, burned to the ground. The museum had been closed to the public in recent months due to Covid but was due to reopen in late January. The cause of the fire…

Born in Adelaide on 31st December, 1940, Denis, now Denny, took on an apprenticeship as a carpenter, and kept supremely fit with a combination of a strict vegetarian diet and plenty of exercise. That included weight lifting and cycling, both of which he excelled at, and there was always surfing in the challenging waters of the South Australian coast not far from his home at Reynella. A born extrovert, Denny loved music, dancing and was a keen singer. Before he was out of his teens, motorcycles entered his life; big British motorcycles like a Triumph Tiger 110, a Bonneville and a BSA A10. He joined the Velocette Motor Cycle Club, home to some of the state’s biggest names in all forms of the sport. From there it was a small…

CEMCC of NSW Central West Branch Orange Rally • 13-14 February, 2021 – Orange NSW In 2020, the always-popular Orange Rally was one of the last to be run before the pandemic hit, and twelve months later, one of the first to reemerge, albeit with strict conditions. And as if the Covid conditions weren’t enough of a task for the organising committee to cope with, Mother Nature threw a spanner in the works with a major downpour on the opening day. To comply with Covid, the rally was effectively split into three simultaneous runs on the Saturday, with the entry of just under 100 in three groups, each covering a loop of around 200km. This ensured that local cafes were able to cope with the smaller numbers, and the system…

Square Four search I am doing some research on an old Ariel Square 4 that I owned in the 1960s and also incorporating some details of it in memoirs that I am writing for my family. I have a vague recollection of taking it to the Kangaroo motorcycle rally at Lake Burrumbeet, near Ballarat during Easter, 1969. The trip was as part of the Melbourne University Motorcycle Club. The Ariel also took out the ‘Best Ariel’ prize at the Southern Cross Rally at Mount Barker, South Australia at Easter, 1968. I am looking around for photographic evidence that I actually took it to these events. It had a distinctive screen which would make it easy to identify in photographs, although, there were a few occasions when I removed the screen.…

Villiers A name not to be forgotten Sometime ago Ken Goodman sent me photos of a pushbike fitted with a Villiers engine. He advised me that the engine was made in Australia. I was not aware that they had been made here. Those photos and a short story appeared in issue 90. The small Villiers engines are not usually everybody’s cup of tea but they have a special place in motorcycle history. During the 1890s John Marston was producing Sunbeam machines but was unable to find good quality parts such as pedals. In 1898 he purchased a small “Japanning” works in Villiers Street, Wolverhampton. His son Charles managed this plant producing quality pedals and free-wheeling pushbike rear wheels. He purchased it from his father in 1902. In 1912 the first…

Star Speedway snapper Gary Reid is a keen observer of all things to do with oval track racing, and was sadden by the recent announcement that Wentworth Park, in the inner Sydney suburb of Glebe, is to be demolished. The Development Application now with the City of Sydney calls for the demolition of the existing building on site and the construction of fifteen two storey plus attic dwelling terraces, at an estimated cost of $18.4 million. Wentworth Park itself had an unsavoury beginning, being a heavily polluted and rancid swamp that had housed abattoirs and boiling down works. It took years of reclaiming works from 1860 to eradicate the putrid stench, long after the industries had departed. By the 1880s the park was pristine, and home to all manner of…

Historic motorcycle racing returns to Carnell Raceway in Stanthorpe for the Carnell Classic on April 17-18, 2021. Promoted by the Queensland Early Motorcycle Sports Club, the weekend will see a packed program of racing for solos and sidecars from Period 2 to Period 6. The track, which opened in 1970, is only 2km from the centre of town so there is easy access to food and accommodation for visitors. The track also provides free camping facilities with showers and toilets. The circuit itself measures 0.96km and hosts a wide variety of motorsports. With six corners and an elevated aspect, the layout provides close and exciting racing. A 200m drag strip is also incorporated in the facility. Being just 50km from the Qld/NSW border, Carnell Park is a convenient location for…

At the end of WWII, Australia had 317 mainland and regional airfields, all controlled by the Royal Australian Air Force. ‘Moolie’, as it is commonly referred to, 56 miles (90 km) from Perth, was the site of a 1500 metre long airstrip that was used by the United States Army Air Corps during WW2, as was the similar strip at Caversham Airfield at Middle Swan. Moolie was referred to as a satellite strip for Caversham, and was rarely used except for training. Caversham, being closer to Perth, hosted some high profile events including the Australian Grand Prix for cars. Moolie, on the other hand, was out in the sticks, although the now-defunct private Midland Railway ran past the site from Midland Junction to Walkaway, with the Mooliabeenie Siding between Gingin…

True, it was a little late coming, because after unveiling the new models in Milan in late 2017, RE went back to the drawing board to make detail changes to ensure the twins were totally up to scratch before an impatient public got its hands on them. Since that happened in mid-2018, there’s been a positive stampede of buyers – every shipment continues to be sold out. So the question is, why? There’s more than one reason – many more in fact – but the truth is that RE managed to float the boat with buyers right across the motorcycle spectrum. And for a model (or models) that was primarily aimed at the Retro end, that’s quite an achievement. Across the world, buyers have discovered that this distinctively traditional motorcycle…

“Jack Dixon was my father, but his real name was the same as mine, Clive Silby,” explains Clive Junior. “He raced pre WW1 and put his age up to enlist in the war. He served overseas and came back as a Warrant Officer. He took up racing again and moved to South Australia and became a radio technician. Unfortunately his workshop, the house and everything in it, including photos, trophies and some bikes, were destroyed in a fire so I don’t remember ever seeing a photo of him from his racing days, until this shot from Goulburn. Then my wife went looking through some old boxes and found two more shots (shown here), one of dad on the speedway, possibly Wayville, and another of one of his very early bikes.…

NZCMRR Festival • 6-7 February, 2021 – Pukekohe Park Raceway, NZ In the immortal words of Fred Dagg (aka. John Clarke), ‘We Don’t Know How Lucky We Are!’ To have a weekend of such high quality and interest, freely accessible to mingle, listen to and make contact with some of the great names of classic motorcycle building and racing is indeed, at this time, a privilege not to be taken for-granted. Although the organising committee would have been holding its collective breath in the days leading up to the event because of the risk of lastminute cancellation, their brave decision to proceed with planning as normal in this Covid era for this, the 42nd NZ Classic Racing Register Festival in 2021, paid off big time with a resoundingly successful event…

Vintage Motor Cycle Club of Australia (NSW) Inc. Veteran and Tiddler Ride • 7 February, 2021–Maraylya, NSW A perfect sunny day greeted participants for the Vintage MCC ride in the Hawkesbury district, with the veteran bikes’ numbers bolstered by the invitation to owners of vintage Tiddlers. Organisers Lee Wright and Peter Scott mapped out an interesting 49km loop starting and finishing at Maraylya Park, and taking in Pitt Town, Oakville for a refreshment stop and regroup, Kenthurst and back to Maraylya. Around 30 starters enjoyed the run through the countryside.…

Lap of the Lake • 12th December 2020 – Lake Macquarie, NSW Themed as a Covid-safe day out for Italian motorcycles and cars, this one-off event attracted a healthy field for a circuit of the scenic Lake Macquarie north of Sydney. The designated Check Point was Halton Bay car park at Eleebana, but there were no rules, just leave from wherever you wish and make your own way. The lap itself involved about 90 minutes of riding, with four suggested mini-stops along the way. Organiser Geoff Boog said, “The event went well and seemed to be well received. The sun was shining, there were smiles all around, and there were certainly some cool toys to be seen and heard – all considered it was a good day.”…

Paperback; 160 pages, 202 pictures • ISBN: 978-1-787115-81-1 • Published by Veloce. • Price: £16.99 UK. Available in 2021 from Renniks, Sydney. (02) 9695 7055 www.renniks.com Bill Snelling says the inspiration for this book came as a result of “an enforced ten-week hospital stay in 2019”. By that stage he had been a resident of the Isle of Man for over 40 years, as well as a frequent competitor in the annual Manx GP races. He has also been a journalist for several British motorcycle magazines, so he knows his subject. However Bill has really made his mark as the most prominent historian for the TT and the Manx Grand Prix, an obsessive collector of photographs and the proprietor of FoTTofinders Bikesport Photo Archives. Buying collections of photos, and being…

Tilbrook tales I read, with great interest, the article in ‘Out & About’ OBA 90, about the Tilbrook sidecars. My parents had a double Tilbrook sidecar, attached to a Mk1 Square four Ariel in the early 1950s. I have attached a not very good photo of it from the rear. Dad made a windscreen and hood to weather proof the outfit, which was very effective. Back then, you only got two weeks annual leave, and we used to travel from Sydney to Labrador, Gold Coast, Queensland. Three days on the road, seven days there at the camping area, and three days on the road back home. Atrocious weather, bad roads, driving rain and potholes – many, many potholes. Everything was packed into the sidecar and saddle bags; the only thing…

Townsville progress Gary Ellem, President of the Road Racing Association of Townsville, reports that the new Townsville Circuit is progressing satisfactorily. “We have completed Stage one; this is the Driver Education portion with 6 Acres of bitumen down, with high speed entry road, central road within the precinct, administration building and WC’s with the Admin car park. The dam is completed and now full. Track construction starts at the end of the wet, which should be end of March, Stage One initial length will be 2.75km.”…

More from Gary Reid indicates that contrary to the item in OBA 91 about the new Speedway complex at Sydney’s Eastern Creek, it seems that bikes will now not be catered for, at least initially. Part of the Submissions Report states, “The design of the Sydney International Speedway does not include the provision of a smaller track on the inside of the main track. However, the design does not preclude this from being incorporated into the facility in the future by the operator of the Sydney International Speedway (once appointed). “In order to run bike events at the Sydney International Speedway, an appropriate racetrack material and the requisite bike-racing fences would need to be installed (in the future by the operator). These fences could also act as barriers for bike…

The Post Classic Racing Association of NSW is all geared up for the 2021 OBA Classic Challenge, to be held at Sydney Motor Sport Park on 20th and 21st March. Event Organiser Ken Lindsay says that the meeting, originally scheduled over three days, will now be a two-day event. “Qualifying will take place on Saturday morning, followed by a full program of 15 races. We plan to kick off Sunday’s racing as early as possible to give everyone the maximum amount of track time. There will be three rounds for all classes, plus five Feature Races on Sunday afternoon. The track will be available for private practice on Friday 19th March.” The program caters for categories from Period 3 to Post Modern solos, plus Sidecars in P3, P4, P5, F2…

Six-times World 250 Motocross Champion JOEL ROBERT passed away on January 13, aged 77. Born on November 26, 1943 in Châtelet, Belgium, Joel was surrounded by motorcycles and motorcycling family from birth. His father raced in European Grass Track and Long Track, as did his uncle. A series of small motorcycles passed through his hands until he was old enough to gain a racing licence at 16. When the 250cc European Motocross Championship became the World Championship for 1962, Joel was there on a privately-owned CZ, and by 1964 he was champion, gaining factory CZ support for the following year. He won again in 1968 and 1969, and signed for Suzuki for the 1970 season. Riding the works RN250, Robert took the title at first attempt – the first for…

First seen in 1919, a 770cc side-valve v-twin was listed in the catalogue, primarily aimed at the family man, with a BSA-built sidecar also listed. Although the twin, with its conventional rigid frame, girder front end and caliper brakes, performed entirely adequately, BSA’s design team came up with numerous less prosaic concepts in multi-cylinder form. That motorcycles were produced at all is a miracle, following massive damage to the Birmingham factory by German bombing raids in 1915, which knocked out the crucial production of military motorcycles as well as destroying an enormous number of machine tools. As far back as 1920, BSA built an in-line twin (like the post-war Sunbeams), with overhead camshaft and with the gearbox bolted to the rear of the engine. It remained a prototype and the…

VSAQ 2020 Christmas Party The 6th December attracted around 100 members, past speedway riders, drivers, officials, guests and friends to the Vintage Speedcar Association of Qld’s annual Christmas party at the Wynnum Golf Club. Being in the later part of their lives, they may be the most vulnerable, given the Covid pandemic, but years of battering and recovering from crash injuries have made them fearless and no-way were they going to take the safe option and stay home. Appropriate props were an electric blue Donnelly Special four-wheeler and one of Nigel Boocock’s two wheeled sliders. Tony Webb and Darren Sonnenberg brought the bike along and with help from a couple of determined lads got the machine up two flights of stairs to the dining area. I shared a table with…

Norton Club NZ Canterbury Branch Ride • 6 December, 2020 – Christchurch, NZ In Europe, on the eve of December 6th, small gifts are hidden in boots to make childrens’ hearts beat faster on St. Nicholas Day the following morning. Our Canterbury area representative Jim Stevens duly managed the same to get his Southern Norton flock excited for a perfectly sunny 6th December ride. We met opposite Princess Margaret Hospital to then proceed up Hackthorne Road to Dyers Pass into the Port Hills. Eleven Commando riders, Dave Thomas’s G15 CSR, Jim’s P11A Ranger and two Dominators (aka Dave Warren’s 99SS & Steve Murray’s 1957 Dommie) were joined by four Ducati-riding friends of the club for the day out. Upon reaching the top of the road, the group turned right at…

Bags for that road trip US company Nelson-Rigg have been producing rainwear, motorcycle covers and soft luggage since 1972. The latest addition to the range are the Road Trip Saddlebags, model NR-400. These are covered by a Lifetime Warranty, with UV Protection, and 100% Waterproof rain covers included. The rigidly-constructed bags are lined with a grey interior, with outer pockets, internal elastic straps and lockable zippers. Custom fender strut mounting brackets are included. Dimensions are L: 33cm, W: 13.5cm, H: 21.6cm – 9.5L Volume. RRP: $349.95. Nelson-Rigg products are distributed in Australia by Link International. For more details see: www.nelsonrigg.com.au Smart Dart Dart Flyscreens came about because company founder Steve Sleddon wanted such an item for his Ducati Monster in 1995. More than 25 years on, Dart’s range is extensive,…

MARCH Old Bike Australasia Classic Challenge 19-21 March, 2021 – Sydney Motor Sport Park, Eastern Creek NSW Promoted by the Post Classic Racing Association of NSW. Full programme of race classes for solos and Sidecars. Details from Ken Lindsay email: highwaystarmce@gmail.com Rudge Enthusiasts’ Club Annual Rally 20-21 March, 2021 – Cootamundra Caravan Park A weekend of Scenic rides around the area suitable for veteran and vintage Rudges. For more details, or to enter your Rudge, please contact Peter Scott Em: qualmag@optusnet.com.au or Tel:(02) 96241262. Club Bultaco Australia 20th Annual Spanish Motorcycle Rally 2021 26-29 March, 2021 – Duramana, NSW Open to all Spanish motorcycles, so dust off those Bultacos, Ossas, Montesas, Gas Gas etc. and come along for a friendly, family-oriented event at Peter Robinson’s 300 acre property, 23 kilometres…