Old Bike Australasia

About 15 years ago I received from the editor of VJMC UK a photo of a young chap and his girl friend on a Honda CB92 in the 1960s; me being a fan of these motorcycles. All motorcyclists with the same model of bike tend to have contact with other owne

Draggin Jeans Best Letter By the time I had reached the age of 50, I had played around with several repairs on Japanese bikes and built up a café racer from a sad 500 AJS single, but had never done a “restoration.” So when I saw the advertisement, “F

At the completion of World War 11 there was a surplus of retired military motorcycles and not much money. So it was that Jack Johnson purchased all he could acquire of the disposed of former military Harley-Davidson machines. His company Redfern Moto

Australia’s million dollar motorcycle, the ex-Jack Ehret Vincent Black Lightning, will be seen and heard at the 2019 AMCA Antique Motorcycle Weekend at Bulli, NSW on August 24th and 25th, supported by Destination Wollongong. As well as the former Aus

The annual Bonhams Spring Auction held at the Stafford Showgrounds in UK saw some interesting results, with the 1962 650cc Triumph Trophy TR6S ridden by American Bud Ekins to a Gold Medal in that year’s International Six days Trial fetching AU$183,22

Hooked on speedway in his early teens, hot summer nights meant only one thing for Jim. First was the steam train to Granville, meeting up with his mate Gordon Guasco to catch the red rattler to Central Railway, the bus up the hill to Moore Park, then

BSA, at the time the largest motorcycle company in Britain, got the ball rolling in August 1945 with the 350cc B31, its first all-new post war design, which admittedly, incorporated more than a few items to the pre-war range, including the M23 500cc

One such was Eric Fernihough, who established a new World Record for the Flying Kilometre on a solo of 169.7 mph on 19th April, 1937 on a supercharged Brough Superior JAP. The venue was a public road in Gyon, Hungary and as well as the solo record, h

The story of the company founded by Pietro Laverda goes back to 1873, initially producing agricultural machinery for the neighbouring farming community. In October 1949, Pietro’s grandson Francisco founded Moto Laverda S.A.S. The first product of the

Marcel worked as a delivery rider in Paris for the French sports daily L’Equipe, starting at 4.30am each morning as the first edition rolled off the presses in that pre-internet era. “It may resemble a BMW, but it was created with French style, and G

Morgan is a small town approximately two hour’s drive east of Adelaide. It is situated on the banks of the River Murray, was established in 1878 and has a population of 4-5000 inhabitants. It supports two pubs, a large shop, service station, caravan

When the Honda GB500TT came into existence in 1985, there was not a road test or review that did not compare it to the exalted and extinct great British singles, especially the BSA Gold Star, Velocette Venom Clubman and Thruxton, Norton Featherbed In

My riding experience goes back to when I was a teenager and saved long and hard to get my first bike, a Honda SL175 twin. That was a great little bike, but I wanted more power, more speed! Eventually, after working two jobs and saving hard, a brand n

There’s no half-measures with the Bimota Mantra. You either love it or loathe it. The design can only be described as radical, and when you consider it carried the badge of Bimota, known for stylish and svelte racing and sports motorcycles, this was

Officially titled the SdKfz 2, its primary purpose was to lay field communication cables. The vehicle was designed to fit inside a Junkers Ju 52 aircraft and used by ground troops once unloaded. Early versions used the front fork from the NSU 600cc m

Let’s start with first impressions; tall and a little top-heavy, especially with a full (21 litre) tank of fuel. At 257kg unladen, this is a fair bit of bike, and with packed panniers, top case and a pillion, it goes up from there. As such, you need

Peter Hyde, Museum president, sent a request to the Historic Motor Cycle Club of Queensland inviting a display of historic motorcycles to compliment the era of the Brisbane tram. Ten HMCCQ members obliged, and to our delight we got our fair share of

Within the article I attached a photo of the bike with a gentleman astride it, whom I thought to be a Mr Alfred A. Campbell. I arrived at this possibility after assuming all things captured within the photo were Tasmanian. I was wrong and the evidenc

• 19-21 April, 2019 – State Motorcycling Complex, Broadford Victoria For the eleventh Easter in a row, the State Motorcycling Complex at Broadford burst into life for three days of motorcycling in all its various forms. Actually it was more than thre

• 18-19 May, 2019 – Gold Coast, Qld In mid-May, the annual Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club Rally returned to Queensland for the first time sinåce 2008, with the date shifted later into the year to take advantage of the milder northern weather. That

• 24 March 2019 – Canning Showgrounds, Perth WA The VMCCWA Show and Swap meeting, which has run since the 1980s, attracted the biggest crowd ever to check out any bargains but also to browse amongst the incredible collection of machines on display, s

• Napier, New Zealand The 30th anniversary Mail Run Rally was attended by over 50 bikes including three 100 year old bikes – a 1914 Humber 3.5hp, 1913 P & M 3.5hp belt driven, and a 1918 Indian Power Plus. All made it to the Rangitaiki tea rooms wher

• 14-21 April, 2019 – Bathurst, NSW To the delight of the 200-odd riders and the dismay of farmers, bright sunny weather prevailed for the 45th running of the always popular Easter Tour at Bathurst. Each year the make up of the bikes entered shifts a

• 9-10 March, 2019 – Bunbury, WA. Upon arrival for the start in Bunbury, it was evident the weather wasn’t as forecast. Rather than a few “light showers”, conditions were rapidly deteriorating with a darkening sky signalling that rain was closing in.

One example of the former was his Marshmallow plant in Ecuador, a volatile region of South America where dictators and despots kept a vice-like grip on the economy. At the time, Sir Carruthers, referred to in hushed terms whenever he visited the regi