Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 117 i Old Bike Australasia

Preston Motorcycle Club has reportedly applied with Motorcycling Australia to conduct the 2025 Australian Historic Road Racing Championships at Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit. The Australia Day weekend 25th-27th January is the preferred date, just 12 weeks after the 2024 titles in Goulburn (see page 113). According to MA, the club has yet to receive confirmation of their date and we should have more news on this in issue 118.…

Fancy a day (or two) out with a scenic lap (or several) of beautiful Lake Macquarie on the NSW Central Coast, with Italian-themed refreshment stops and other activities around the 83km route? Lago di Mac, catering for classic cars and motorcycles, Italian and otherwise, takes place on Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th November, 2024. The event has been such a success its on again for 2024, bigger and better than ever. Headquarters is again Thomas H. Halton Park at Croudace Bay which will be a hive of activity featuring Italian food, coffee and artisan stalls, live music, games for kids and displays from local businesses. Around the lake itself are a further ten locations for points of interest and refreshments. Entry to Lago di Mac is free. Organiser Carlo Rossi…

The last lap fell on 1960s Queensland sidecar racer, Kedron Motorcycle Club life member and former club president, RON TANNER in June 2024 at his home at Holland Park in Brisbane at the age of 87 after a mercifully short battle against a severe illness. Ron passed away with his wife of 67 years, Greta, son Gary, daughter Jodi and her family at his bedside. Ron rode sidecars all his motorcycling life, even as a teenager, with an old Swallow attached to his 350cc Matchless. He began his Short Circuit career with an ES2 Norton on a rigid frame, and with Kedron clubmate Roger Locke in the chair. The old Easy2 proved no match for the Triumphs around at the time, so he replaced it with a Norton Dominator twin.…

You have to go back quite a long way to tell the MZ story. It began in 1906 when Danish engineer Jorgen Rasmussen purchased a run-down textile mill in Zschopau, part of Saxony in Germany, where he commenced business making steam valve equipment. As the business expanded he turned his attention to adapting steam engines to motorised vehicles, and in 1917 produced what he termed the Dampkraftwage – or Steam Powered Car. For marketing purposes, this became simply DKW. Powered bicycles came next, then motorcycles, and by the time the ‘twenties drew to a close DKW was churning out 60,000 motorcycles per year – the largest output of any manufacturer in the world. But the Great Depression was just around the corner and times were tough in the motor industry.…

Here is a vast collection of buildings housing trains, planes, cars, fire engines…and classic motorcycles. On the day of my visit in April the parking area was buzzing, or should I say chuffing, with dozens of vintage steam-driven stationary engines puffing and popping away to the delight of visitors. Primarily, I was there to visit the amazing collection of historic Honda motorcycles owned by Mr. Kaoru Kimiwada, housed in a small but spotless building on the outside of the main exhibition halls. Given the modest exterior, there is little to suggest the treasures that wait inside – a shrine to Honda’s pioneering engineering. I would say confidently that despite its modest appearance, this is the finest collection of the earliest Hondas anywhere in the world. His display is free to…

Yamaha began with the TY250A, the engine based from the DT250, which was developed with a lot of input by 1971 and 1972 European Trials Champion Mick Andrews, then riding for OSSA. It featured some major modifications to the 2-stroke engine to enhance pulling power at very low speeds, newly designed gearbox ratios to suit the low speeds and Auto Lube lubrication. The bike also had changes to the mass of the flywheel and magneto, new extra special diamond type frame to withstand the stresses and strains encountered in Trials and waterproof, dustproof drum brakes. Mick Andrews launched the TY 250A to the Australian Trials scene in 1974 in a promotion organised by NSW Yamaha distributors McCulloch of Australia and the St George Motor Cycle Club. Mick competed in a…

I answered an ad for a red tank version on the Canadian Kijiji sale site. The address given was way out in the sticks east of Edmonton Alberta in the hard dirt and gravel farming region settled by Ukrainian immigrants early last century. Typically after these farms were operated for a few years they were abandoned as being hopelessly poor and incapable of growing decent grass, much less grain crops or cattle. On arriving at the location our opinion didn’t change when confronted by a ramshackle assortment of broken-down trucks and cars, a mobile home with one end completely missing and a log barn that featured a terminal lean and a collapsed roof. Skinny trees had completely overgrown what little land was somewhat flat but the very active beavers had…

Round 4 of the Interclub Championship was run at CARCO.com.au Raceway (Wanneroo) – the first time they had run a full race meeting at the track in eight years. There was a great turnout to celebrate with over 130 motorcycles and 100+ riders. The meeting also incorporated the first round of the 2024 WA Junior State Road Racing Championships with ten juniors entered. The P6 500/P7 500 & P6 Formula 1300 which was sponsored by ‘Quantum Electrical’ opened the day’s racing with 22 starters and it was Leigh Boujos (Yamaha FZR 1000) who stole the show with three wins and a new lap record of 1:01.9280 seconds. In the P6 New Era Senior – 263cc-500cc class Matt Brown (Sub6 Mechanical Engineering Kawasaki ZXR 400) took three wins, and in the…

This year’s CBX-6 Owners’ Club of Australia National Rally, celebrating 46 years of the Honda CBX was held at the Brook Hotel, Mitchelton South East Queensland. Friday afternoon was a meet and greet with club members arriving from Victoria, NSW and Queensland. For Saturday morning’s ride we departed for Maleny with a morning tea stop at the Pitt Stop Cafe at Mt Mee. Sunday morning was for the Show and Shine after which we headed to Fernvale for lunch via a coffee stop at Mt Glorious café. On Sunday evening the club hosted a presentation dinner and auction night raising funds for Legacy. The Hard Luck award went to Hard Luck Phil Eldridge, who crashed his CBX five days before the rally – the first time in forty two years…

Veterans of this popular annual gathering in the Hawkesbury district in NW Sydney reckoned they could not remember a wet one. Well, that changed for this year’s version. Contrary to the forecast, Saturday morning dawned wet, cold and miserable, resulting in quite a few no-shows from the entry of one hundred and ten bikes. Still, the hardy ones assembled at the Pitt Town Sports Club, and the blue-jacketed marshals set out to man the route dead on time at 9.15am, followed soon after by the rallyists themselves. The rain did not let up until late morning, and when it did, a biting cold wind made conditions a bit trying. But by the time everyone arrived for morning tea at the historic Ebenezer church and the bikes were assembled for judging,…

Hot in the tracks of the popular Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 comes the new Guerrilla 450, a roadster aimed at the urban market. Royal Enfield says the new model has “no flashy frills or pointless plastics” which sums it up well. The Guerrilla carries no excess weight and with the 452cc liquid-cooled Sherpa engine putting out 40hp and 40Nm torque, the package is engineered for fun riding, with changeable riding modes and a six-speed gearbox. 17 inch wheels are used front and rear with wide profile tyres and top-spec Showa suspension. Three colour schemes are available; Brava Blue, Playa Black and Yellow Ribbon (shown). With a low seat height and mid-set footrests, the Guerilla provides an upright riding position to ensure comfort and control in city and country. The Tripper…

My father, IVAN TURNBULL passed away on the 16th of July, Dad was 87. Dad was born in Newcastle, Australia on 24th December 1936 and later moved to New Zealand, settling in New Plymouth. Dad knew this time was coming and he asked me a couple of weeks ago to get in touch with OBA after his passing. I have many racing photographs of Dad in both Australia and New Zealand, amongst his many racing achievements his proudest win was Bathurst in 1959, when he won the Senior Non Expert Division B and was part of the winning Club team with Jack Sullings and Peter Wilson. Dad raced in all formats, speedway sidecars, solos, short circuit dirt, scrambles, road racing and drag racing, he had a New Zealand quarter mile…

For this year, our 13th rally, we had 52 bikes entered, travelling from as far as WA and most states. Among these were two of the 64 Triumph Legends that were built by Les Williams. One coming from Perth while the other was from Adelaide. Avoiding the potholes is still a big mission as some of the roads in this area are still awaiting repair following the damage caused in the 2022 floods. The Friday ride was a 185km return to Rappville Pub for lunch and a catch up for many who have not seen each other since last year’s Triples Rally. Friday night saw us enjoying a Meet & Greet at the Holiday Park’s Camp Kitchen. Saturday is the main ride day starting with the bikes lined up in…

The very popular get together for Brisbane speedway enthusiasts continues with many regulars and a few new exhibits for the July event. While focusing on all things speedway, classic bikes and cars and even a wonderful karting display adorned the carpark of the Bracken Ridge Tavern. The regular speedway motorcycle displays included those by Andy Nightingale, Grahame Gardiner and Dutton Racing who included some new restorations. Notable was Grahame Gardiner’s ex-Graham Warren solo and his very rare JAP twin cam 4 valve powered machine. A speedway motorcycle newcomer Brad Goostrey (who has a beautiful bunch of road motorcycles) recently restored a JAWA in honour of his mum and dad who lived for speedway when he was a nipper. Another highlight was the smell, sight and sound of a couple of…

Gomer Jessop, fourth cousin of the great Edgar Jessop, was a shrewd and capable racer in his home-built machine which he called Mutt, after his dog which coincidentally was also called Mutt. On his home turf in the Ozark Mountains, Gomer annually went in chase of the big prize – the Ozark Silver Salver, a handsome plate presented by Sir Carruthers Spagforth. The treacherous weather in the area was a cause for concern. It was raining steadily, and everyone in the field had chosen to start on treaded tyres – except one. At the last minute Gomer noticed consternation amongst a flock of Swainson’s Warblers (native to the area) in a nearby tree. As a seasoned mountain man who had spent his formative years living in a tree trunk, Gomer…

Greetings from Bangor I have been taking ‘Old Bike Australasia’ magazine for a couple of years now. I live in Northern Ireland and am 81 years old and have been interested in motorbikes and road racing in particular for as long as I can remember. When I was about 7 or 8 I wrote a composition about racing and how I hoped to become a road racer when I grew up. I did become a road racer but I never grew up! Around the time of the essay I discovered the UK motorcycle magazines, Motor Cycling & Motor Cycle, later Motorcycle News (MCN) and anything printed in our local daily papers were put into scrapbooks – something which I still do today. Of course in the late ‘forties until the…

Yamaha’s amazingly versatile MT-09 triple, which already appears in four different variants, has just had a major makeover to include an automatic transmission. The new MT-09 Y-AMT (Automated Manual Transmission) allows the rider to choose a fully automatic transmission, or operate the gears via a finger shift on the handlebar. The finger shift is not only quicker than the conventional foot change, but has been shown to require less thinking time, allowing the rider to concentrate on other things. The new model is definitely aimed at the sporty side, which Yamaha says enhances all sorts of normal functions, especially cornering, when the finger-shift is engaged. This simply uses a ‘see-saw’ toggle switch operated by the thumb and index finger, or the finger alone. With no clutch to operate, timing the…

Recently I had the dubious honour to attend the funeral of Graeme Laing. Graeme was a stalwart of the Sandringham Motorcycle Club, which I became a member of in the mid-sixties. He was affectionately called Bo by most club members and I shall refer to him thus. Bo and his wife, Bunty, (now deceased) were legendary members of the Sandy Club. When race meetings were held by the club, they were part of the team who made it all run smoothly. Bunty was always part of the team recording lap times. Bo was always ready with a smile and help. It didn’t matter who you were or what the issue was. When I met him, he was still working with GMH and it wasn’t long before he headed up Melbourne…

A fitter and turner by trade, Max joined Sydney’s Ryde Motorcycle Club around 1960, where he was soon joined by another who would go onto big things, Garry Thomas. Garry and Max were great mates, with Max ferrying Garry around in the sidecar of his father’s Triumph T100 and both of them tearing around the local council tip at Putney on whatever they could find. Motorcycle sport in New South Wales had hit rock bottom in 1959 with the introduction of the draconian NSW Speedways Act, which required all circuits to be officially licenced and to conform to strict “safety” standards, which applied equally to the jalopies known as Stock Cars on speedways to Grand Prix cars – and motorcycles. The unique branch of the sport originally known as Miniature…

It is still mightily impressive, but in a different way. The number of motorcycles on display has dropped by around 50%, although what remains cannot fail to astound the visitor. I was told that the displays will be rotated, which must mean that there is a huge storage of vehicles off site, and unless you are a regular visitor, only a proportion of these can be seen at any one time. As you enter the expansive foyer on the ground floor, what now greets you is a full-size mock-up of the HondaJet Elite II executive jet aircraft, and visitors are free to clamber around inside. Surrounding the jet are some iconic Honda creations from a different age: an RC141 Grand Prix 125, an early Formula One car, an S600 sports…

Britain went as far as to ban motor sport altogether on public roads, meaning only the new purpose-built Brooklands track, which opened in 1907, was available. It was a different story on the Continent, with intercity and inter-town races everywhere. Thus was born the inspiration for the Tourist Trophy Races, which could be staged on the Isle of Man – outside the draconian jurisdiction on the mainland. The island had its own government, imposed no general speed limit, and allowed its roads to be closed for racing. The Manx government also considered the notion very suitable for attracting tourists, and from 1905, the Royal Automobile Club adopted the term Tourist Trophy (TT) for what had previously been called the Gordon Bennett Trial, initially for touring cars only. Two years later,…

FOR SALE: A country tree change with built-in hobby When Colin Gitsham moved from suburban Adelaide to the small township of Mount Pleasant in the Barossa district, he felt he’d made his last move. Colin is a veteran of the Adelaide motorcycling scene, having been a Sales Manager at the Ducati dealer in Adelaide, worked in the accessory trade at several levels, and as the commentator at Gillman speedway for more than a decade. Along the way he had amassed a small collection of seven bikes, which has now grown to sixteen, along with two classic cars (a 1968 Pontiac Firebird Supercharged Convertible and a 1983 Ferrari Mondial) and a stash of WW2 German militaria. He bought a heritage-listed commercial property in the main street, which had operated originally as…

The weather was typical of North QLD (perfect), for the opening meeting at the brand new DriveIt NQ circuit 40km west of Townsville, although the humidity was a little high for producing maximum horsepower. This wouldn’t prove to be a stumbling block for the many entrants who came from far and wide to join in the festivities. Townsville, sometimes referred to as the “fortress city’ is located approximately 1,700km north of the Sunshine State’s Capital and many made the trip north, with entrants travelling from Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. This included a good number of hand shifters, who are always a crowd favourite and made the trip north from Victoria and the southern parts of QLD. DriveIt NQ is a 2.750 km race track and…

For many years Velocette enthusiasts and others, including the NSW Norton Club, have gathered at Fagan Park, in NW Sydney to raise funds for this historic 55 acre property, with its themed gardens, cottages and other heritage buildings. Friends of Fagan Park undertake the restoration of rare and significant vehicles including trucks and tractors, completed in the workshops by volunteers. Until his passing two years ago, this annual Saturday event was hosted by Alan Foy, but others have stepped up, notably Ian Browning who also coordinates much of the workshop activity. Blessed with fine sunny winter weather, a healthy turn out of 13 Velocettes, 2 Vincents and loads of others including Nortons, a Sunbeam, and AJS provided a wonderful free show, with all proceeds from morning tea and lunch going…

Midweek rain cleared, leaving three sunny and warm days for IMCRC’s 29th annual rally. Over 150 pre-’95 machines registered, in addition to 40+ non-historics and sundry latecomers. British and Japanese machines dominated the mix, with 2-strokes thin on the ground. Friday’s solid turnout saw over 70 bikes head south for a 55km route to Bundarra via Tingha and a fine sit down lunch supplied by Sport & Rec Club. Riders made a brief stop at Tingha to check out the remarkable Wing Hing Long museum. The traditional Saturday big morning tea kept the entrants fed and watered as a crowd estimated at over 400 (including entrants) inspected the 200 odd bikes marshalled on the Pioneer Village Green for judging, prior to heading north for the day’s ride. Numbers exceeded last…