Retrobike

GIVEN the reverence the Ducatisti hold for the bevel-drive V-twin, especially the early round-case models, it’s barely conceivable that there was once a time when anyone would consider replacing it with an engine from another make. The early 1970s sa

ROYAL Enfield scored a winner with its new Brit-style 650 vertical twins, the Interceptor and Continental GT. The keenly-priced pair are attracting fans all around the world, including in Vietnam, home to Daryl Villanueva’s Bandit9 custom workshop in

SOME bikes hit you straight between the eyes. One glance is all it takes. It’s been a while since a Honda CX500 took our breath away, Queenslander Garth Allison’s bright yellow 1980 model that graced the cover of Retrobike #33. Well, here’s another,

WE FEATURED Christian Jentz’s 1984 R 100 RS bobber on the cover of Retrobike #39. Built by custom workshop Black Cycles in Coopers Plains, Queensland, to a shared vision and painted by Christian, it is to our eyes one of the best-looking, locally-bui

ALL forms of motorsport take commitment, and land speed racing is no different. In Australia, there is only one meeting per year and it happens on a vast dry salt lake deep in the outback, thousands of kilometres from where most of us live. There is

THE intro to this feature is taken directly from The Mint, a book written by Thomas Edward Lawrence in 1928 but not published until 1955, about his life as an aircraftsman in the RAF after WW1. He had been a distinguished army intelligence officer du

LIFELONG motorcycle tragic Barry Nolan from the Gold Coast has broader tastes than most, starting with a CT110 postie decades ago. “I haven’t owned a car in 25 years,” he says. His scrapbook of memories includes everything from a BMW K100 RT tourer t

REGULAR readers may recall the pair of Sterling Autocycles owned by brothers Mick and Stu Garfarth that we featured in Retrobike #38. Powered by modest 125cc and 250cc Chinese four-stroke singles housed in simple girder-forked rigid frames, the UK-de

MARK Attebery’s other ride is this cool 2009 883 Sportster, like the Halcyon pretty much stock mechanically but radically refinished in a distinctive, original way. True to style, the front mudguard and drive belt guards were removed — what is it abo

ON October 24th, 1992, the first-ever Ducati Monster was launched to the public at the IFMA Show in Germany —the first of 350,000 such bikes built so far, in all their different capacities and configurations. Argentinian designer Miguel Angel Galluzz

SELLICKS Beach is an ideal scenario for beach racing with the underlying pebbles providing a solid base for the sand, which firms up and smooths out after each high tide. With this in mind, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the beach has been used f

RIGHTO, hands up who remembers BMW's last foray into the world of cruisers? Thank heavens, I've read so much guff on the new R18 that’d have you believe BM is finally going where no BM has gone before. And that’s not true, they just got it right this

I FEEL somehow, I don't know, vindicated. Fact is the Rooth Brothers beat BMW to the parade this time around. Hilda's a 1960 R60 BMW. She came into the family back in 1974 when a 14-year-old BMW was the most reliable transport an 18-year-old Rooth co

THERE is something about the style of Vincent engines that makes them look so good and work so well in other frames that the hybrids become entities in themselves. The most popular is the elegant Norvin, the archetypal café racer based on the Norton

CYRIL Pullin was already famous as a motorcycle engineer and racer when he teamed up with the Ascot Motor and Manufacturing Co in Letchworth, north of London, to unveil what he termed ‘The New Wonder Motor Cycle’ at the 1928 London Olympia Show. Futu

WE featured ‘The Motorcycle: Design, Art, Desire’ exhibition at Queensland’s Gallery of Modern Art last issue, but hardly touched the surface. So here are some more examples from the world’s best ever retro bike show, photographed by Loose Bruce. ■

M4 is a 20W50 mineral motor oil for 4-stroke motorcycles. Recommended for older motorcycles, it limits oil consumption and provides optimum engine protection even during prolonged periods of immobilisation of the motorcycle. • Engine protection • Min

THE LT’s the usual ‘go to’ in the shed for rapid interstate transport. A 1995 BMW with over 370,000km on the clock, it’s the newest bike I own. So up on the bench and I’m ready to service her. Once I would have made a rude comment about that line but

DO you ever dream about motorbikes? Hope you do. The trouble is that there’s a big difference between fantasies and dreams, and in dreams you usually don’t get to choose what you’re riding. In fantasies, you’re in charge. So a while back I wasn’t in