Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 108 i Old Bike Australasia

New home for NZ Classic Festival Following the demise of the Pukekohe circuit in Auckland, the annual Classic Festival run by the Historic Racing Resister is set to move to the Manfield Chris Amon Circuit for 2024. Dates for the meeting are provisionally set at Saturday February 3rd and Sunday 4th. The Manfield circuit offers a choice of several lap configurations, from 3.03km to 4.5km. It is located in Feilding, in the Manawatu district of the North Island near Palmerstone North, which is about 140km north of the capital, Wellington. Feilding has won the annual New Zealand’s Most Beautiful Town award 15 times. More details will be announced on the Register’s web site at www.nzcmrr.com. We will have more details on the 2024 CMRR Festival in OBA 109.…

The bitumen surface is now laid and cured. Next comes the construction of the control tower and timing loop, tyre walls, pit lane concrete barrier and line marking of grids etc. It has taken 18 years to get this far, but the track in now almost ready for racing. The major remaining task is to build a concrete barrier along pit straight – something that was not part of the original funding. To this end, money is being sought from local businesses and the public for what has been called the Wall of Champions, whereby sections (or ‘blocks’) can be purchased from DriveIt NQ, a not-for-profit organisation that has issued a prospectus on the initiative which includes advertising packages. For more information, contact Greg on 0417 645 710 or Pat…

Not only has the motorcycle survived, but so has a pictorial record of its early history when it was part of the fabric of the emerging Hobart motorcycling fraternity. Len Pitfield bought his first motorcycle, a 5hp twin Griffon in 1905, but it was unreliable and difficult to maintain, so after a major crash when he ran over a broken beer bottle and cut the rear tyre in half, it was replaced with another French machine, a 3.5hp Alcyon. His second bike was a marginal improvement, but had a primitive ignition system and “full of trouble”, so he took the plunge on a 1908 Peugeot, which he collected on Christmas Day, 1908. The following day he set off on a 300-mile ride to run in the machine, an experience punctuated…

The Rudge story actually began in Wolverhampton in 1868, where publican Dan Rudge built velocipedes (early bicycles) in a room behind the Tiger’s Head Inn. Dan not only hand-built the contraptions, but invented and patented all sorts of things like ball-bearing wheel spindles and adjustable ball-bearing pedals. After his death the company passed through various hands, but were on the verge of bankruptcy when acquired by the Whitworth Cycle Company in Birmingham. The new venture flourished, and with the bicycle market reaching nearing saturation point, branched into motorcycles. Rudge-Whitworth went on to produce some of the most famous and innovative designs of the time, including the Rudge Multi with its variable speed transmission which won the 1914 Isle of Man Senior TT in the hands of Cyril Pullin. Road racing…

Never in my wildest dreams April 15 saw the first ‘Bike Night’ at Joe’s Diner, Brisbane for 2023. As always the event is dominated by American iron with a reasonable ratio of Euro/Japanese modern machines. A very small group of us old bike riders try to wave the flag for our historic beasts and because we differ from the norm we do attract a little attention. The old bike mob included mostly Japanese bikes. I met one rider who had just beautifully refurbished a blue Honda CB900F with only 200km since completion. Kawasaki was represented by a Z1000 and a very nice gold 750 Triple, Yamaha by a beautiful and exotic RZ500 V4, and then there was a very nice Suzuki Katana. An electric blue Ducati 900 GTS which rounded…

• 7-9 April, 2023 – State Motorcycle Complex, Victoria Since 2006, The Broadford Bike Bonanza has been one of the must-dos for any classic bike enthusiast. The concept was to get the ‘bike out of the shed and onto the track’ where it could be viewed by all rather than hidden away where few get the chance to see it. To say it was highly successful would be an understatement. After a two-year absence due to Covid and travel restrictions within Victoria, the Bonanza returned for 2022, but in October of the same year Motorcycling Australia announced that it would not take place in 2023, while they re-assessed the viability of the event. Fortunately, Rachelle and Michael Pettifer stepped in and, with Shannons Insurance’s support, held the event under the…

• 2 April, 2023 – Balhannah, SA A day of perfect Autumn weather graced the Festival of Motorcycling ‘British Motorcycle Day’ held at Balhannah Showground 2nd April. This event, inaugurated in 2022 through the efforts of Rob Elliott and Michael Griffin, was supported by Old Bike Australasia (editor Jim Scaysbrook is Patron), Shannons, Scammells, Yamaha World & Royal Enfield, the RAA and Paint Supplies SA. Lew Hylton as MC was ably supported by the FOMSA Committee. Nearly 2,000 spectators appreciated this year’s event, many from the 7 motorcycle clubs supporting and assisting on the day. Spectators were able to view over 300 British-made motorcycles on display. Entry fee was a very modest $5 per person, or, if an entrant wanted to have their motorcycle judged in the ‘Show & Shine’,…

Although global warming is the ‘hot’ topic of modern times, with rising sea levels, melting ice caps and flash flooding, the phenomena has been with us for some considerable time. Many directly attribute the climate changes to the increase in population; from around 1 billion in 1800 to almost 8 billion today. More mouths to feed, more land needed for crops and grazing, more vehicles to produce and run, more of everything being consumed. Even back in the ‘fifties, things seemed to be getting wetter, hotter, less predictable compared to grandad’s day. The Spagforth company, with its finger firmly on the pulse of marketing trends, regardless of how they manifested themselves, anticipated the change in climate with a continual series of model innovations and improvements, none of which were ultimately…

“With the introduction of the all-new CVO Street Glide and CVO Road Glide, we’ve completely reimagined two of Harley-Davidson’s most iconic motorcycles and redefined the boundaries of CVO in the process,” said Jochen Zeitz, Chairman, President and CEO of Harley-Davidson. “By rethinking these two models from the ground up, we are ushering in a new era of innovation, design, engineering, and technology, while expanding the definition of Harley-Davidson CVO and taking the Grand American Touring experience to another level. The new CVO Street Glide and CVO Road Glide break the mould and reset the bar for the pinnacle Harley-Davidson riding experience.” The bikes feature a new Milwaukee-Eight VVY 121 engine, all-new suspension, all-new infotainment system, and two paint/finish options. The Street Glide features the H-D’s batwing fairing, saying “While the…

Norm Aldridge Motorcycle racing in NSW recently lost another champion of a bygone era with the departure of NORM ALDRIDGE. Norm lost a long battle with dementia on the 23rd March 2023 and his life and achievements were celebrated at his funeral held in Sutherland on the 3rd April 2023. Norm joined Bankstown Wiley Park Motor Cycle Club in 1953 and raced successfully in a number of facets including Scrambles and Reliability Trials. Norm also branched into Sporting Trials and he was very good at it. Aboard the lightweight two-stroke Works J9 James Commando, Norm proved to be almost unbeatable in the many Sporting Trials he rode during his 13-year career. He was able to win an amazing 10 NSW Outright Sporting Trials Championships before retiring from riding in 1966…

Introduced in 1100cc form in 1992, the Zephyr (“A gentle breeze”) came 20 years since the first sightings of the legendary 903cc Z1. In those two decades, big bikes had taken quantum leaps in horsepower via cylinder heads with four and even five valves, fuel injection, electronic engine management, more efficient exhaust system and so on; a classic example of technology keeping up with or even exceeding stricter emission laws. Then there are the advances in chassis technology, with ever more sophisticated suspension with upside down forks and single shock rears, alloy box section frames, massive brakes, lighter wheels, and especially, far superior tyres. This relentless progress also had the reverse effect of spawning a wave of nostalgia; a yearning for the simplicity of old, and that’s where the Zephyr…

Back issues also available Each issue of Old Bike Australasia contains feature articles on a wide range of stories including famous bikes, forgotten circuits, personality profiles, road tests, rally roundups and current race reports from Classic/Historic meetings on the Australian and New Zealand motorcycle calendar. Subscribe for 2 years and save over 25%! Or subscribe for 1 year and save over 22% YES! I would like to subscribe to Old Bike Australasia for: ∘ 14 issues (2 years) ONLY $125 – SAVE OVER 25% ∘ 7 issues (1 year) ONLY $65 – SAVE OVER 22% ∘ New Subscription ∘ Renewal ∘ Gift Subscription 1300 361 146 TOLL FREE OR +612 9901 6111 OLD BIKE SUBSCRIPTIONS LOCKED BAG 3355, ST LEONARDS NSW 1590 Price offer available to Aust and NZ residents…

• 1-2 April, 2023 – State Motorcycle Complex, Victoria Held in mixed weather conditions but with a fine Sunday, the 2023 Victorian State titles saw spirited racing across the classes and many standout performances. The largest field was for the Harley vs Indian Hand Shift Battle with 19 starters which saw Jack Petith amass an almost perfect score to win from Peter Birthisel and Adam Moxey. Mick Moloney took four from four to win the Unlimited Forgotten Era, as did Bob Rosenthal in the P3 500, Keith Campbell in the Unlimited Classic, Terry Morris (250 Post Classic), Haydn Jones (500 Post Classic), the Reynolds/Freeman team (Post Classic Sidecars), Craig Harms (Unlimited Post Classic), Anthony Stephens (500 Forgotten Era), and Bryce Davies (500 Vintage). The sidecars also got an outing and,…

• 26 March 2023 – Devonport, Tasmania The Vintage Japanese Motor Cycle Club (Devonport Chapter) put in a big effort to improve what was already a good show promoted by Devonport Rotary, in 2022. That year 5,000 people turned up to see the displays and this year just under 7,000 people attended the event. Major sponsor Chas Kelly through his SeaRoad company was easily convinced to bring the Horner Vincent transporter over with three solo and one sidecar, as well as Ray Audrieux’s Vincent speedway sidecar now owned by John Heaviside in Victoria. Ray now lives in Tasmania and intends doing some work on the sidecar while it is in the state. Just seeing the beautiful Vincents was a hit with the very large crowd but when firstly Ray and…

• 23 February, 2023 – Tasmania, Australia The VOCT held its inaugural rally in February. A total of 40 bikes participated and with pillions, partners, volunteers and guests 62 of us headed off on our 11-day journey enjoying 2,800km of Tasmanian roads. Snaking our way to both West and East coasts and a bunch of interesting places in between, enjoying quiet roads taking in magnificent scenery, meeting friendly locals and enjoying delicious food. Our Series D Rapide sidecar duo Anthony and Bambi Clark had a very relaxing time with Bambi sitting in the sidecar knitting her way around Tasmania. The lay days were spent fixing the breakdowns, some successful and some sadly loaded onto the trailer of shame. We were blessed with perfect weather and the only significant rain fell…

As a teenager, Paul Feeney was all but a fixture around Lee Roebuck’s bike shop in their home town of Goulburn and it was there he met Ray Spence, who was building a new sidecar outfit while looking for a fearless young passenger. Even though he’d long been keen to go racing, Paul was reluctant to take up Ray’s offer. The fact that Ray was hobbling around on crutches may have been the cause of his hesitation, but Ray convinced him that this was the ideal opportunity to familiarise himself with all the track layouts. With most of his apprentice electrician’s wages allocated to the drip-feed on his Kawasaki H2 750, Paul figured a free ride in the chair was preferable to no ride at all. No superstars, the pairing…

In reality, the first SL350 was a CL350 Honda, stripped of bulky road stuff (but retaining the starter motor and CB350 frame and wheels). It was viewed as a pariah, with no obvious benefits, and quite a few drawbacks. Dealers were sceptical and it was a slow mover from showrooms. This was early 1969, and Honda could be excused for wishing to exploit the runaway success of the CB/CL350, which had soared to top of the pops in the USA. The hybrid SL350 did not really cut the mustard however, diluting the highway performance of the road models and adding little to the myth of a 325cc twin cylinder off-roader. But most agreed, the engine adapted to its new dual personality rather well. The chassis was an altogether different proposition.…

Paso was born in 1938 in Rimini, the heartland of Emilia Romagna and Italy’s stronghold of motorcycle racing culture. His father was a racer and encouraged his son into both motocross and road racing at a very young age, beginning with motocross in 1958. It was a formative start that would eventually see Pasolini bring these techniques into his style when he switched to road racing in 1962. He was neither too tall nor too short in stature, with a lot of power and strength in his hands, though his eyesight was not the greatest and he had to wear glasses both on and off the bike. The young Paso debuted aboard an Aermacchi 175, pitting himself against the legendary Giacomo Agostini. Two first-place finishes ahead of Ago set the…

• 9 April, 2023 – Collie Motorplex, WA April 9th saw the running of the second round of the Interclub Championship/Collie TT, incorporating the running of Round 1 of the “4ward Fabrication WA Junior Road Race Championship.” In the P6 250GP/P6 Formula 750/Pre-Modern 750 Marc Cartier (Trakdayz Suzuki GSX-R750 SRAD) set the tone with three strong wins in the class. In the P2, P3, P4 Solos Chris Gammidge (Adrenaline Performance & Fabrication Honda 350 P4J) was also a three-time winner on the day. In the 4ward Fabrications WA Junior Road Race Championship Round 1 after qualifying for the 10 entrants the front row was Calvin Moylan (Hydro-Pneumatics Yamaha R15) in pole position, second was Lauchy Williams (BraT Racing Yamaha R15) with Max Webb (Mum & Dad Yamaha R15) rounding out…

• 10-12 March 2023 – Maryborough, Vitoria Robbie Griffiths and Mick Guilfoyle ensured we had one of our most enjoyable rallies ever. The weather was just perfect for the four days; sunshine and not that hot. The roads travelled were good and the Sunday evening venue, the restaurant at the historic railway station was first class. The new management excelled with their presentation, meals and service. 39 bikes turned out over the long weekend. A couple of riders came for the Saturday only and eleven rode to Dunolly on the Monday morning. Friday’s shake down 40km run was to the Talbot Hotel and return on the highway. Saturday’s 130km run was as planned to Maldon for morning tea, then a change from the original route as Robbie had prior warning…