Altona, in the inner south-west suburbs of Melbourne, is one of those new-age industrial regions where one-time paddocks are being transformed into row upon row of massive steel and concrete structures that are fast becoming home to legions of businesses big and small.
Tucked away between huge logistics warehouses and manufacturing plants is a relatively new warehouse that would rate about mid-size in the suburb’s architecture. As warehouses go, it’s fairly understated: there’s no gleaming glass frontage or shiny steel beams to make a bold street presence. In fact, there’s little signage to tell you what goes on here. Until you step right up near the front door, dodging pallets of tyres and boots and helmets that give you the first signals you’ve arrived at Bruce Collins Enterprises, one of Australia’s longest-serving motorcycle accessory importing, distributing and manufacturing firms, whose general manager, Bruce Collins himself, is the proud new owner of iconic Australian brand Barkbusters.
IN THE BEGINNING
The leafy surrounds of Wilton, around 100km south of the Sydney CBD, are worlds away from the industrial acreage of Altona. But that’s where the Barkbusters story started, in a small industrial facility built by Aussie dirtbike legend Ted Goddard on his rural property in the early 1980s. A qualified engineer and accomplished enduro and ISDT racer, Ted gelled his two passions — engineering and dirtbikes — by creating the Barkbusters business in 1984. He’d seen American alloy backbone handlebar protectors during his dirtbike travels around the world and calculated he could build, as the saying goes, a better mouse-trap.
