Issue 98

Old Bike Australasia

For motorcycle enthusiasts, young and old.

Old Bike Australasia1 min read
Old Bike Australasia
Jim Scaysbrook OAM Email: scaysbrook34@bigpond.com Tel: (02) 9672 6899 (bh) Mbl: 0411 443 444 PO Box 95, Kellyville NSW 2155 Alan Cathcart, Gaven Dall’Osto, Peter Drakeford, Stuart Francis, Barry Grover, Peter Laverty, Des Lewis, Wes Martin, Rennie S
Old Bike Australasia6 min read
Blow Your Own Letters To The Editor
With reference to the above article (OBA 96 Edgar Jessop) the aircraft appears to be an early radial engine variant of the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley. The Bristol Badger was an inter-war single engine recon plane. Thanks for the excellent mag. I am
Old Bike Australasia2 min read
Editor’s Letter
I know this magazine’s ethos is heritage and nostalgia, but it’s also about continuing tradition. One such tradition began back in 1949 when Eric McPherson finished equal third in the inaugural 350cc World Championship. It took a further eight years
Old Bike Australasia3 min read
A Licence To Thrill
The story on “Scoring a Nought” in OBA 96 brought back memories of different times and different licensing requirements. In New Zealand in the ’60s you only needed to be 15 to get a car licence. I had been driving my parents’ car for at least 2 years
Old Bike Australasia3 min read
Classic Cob Out In The Shed
To get ahead and be noticed with good results when racing at Bathurst and other circuits in the post war years usually required a rider to have an overhead cam machine such as a 7R AJS or a Manx Norton. Alternatively some people did get good results
Old Bike Australasia6 min read
BUZZ BOX Under the Chequered Flag
Three times Australian motocross Champion and twice Australian Short Circuit Champion, MATT DALEY, died on 1st November 2021, aged 77 after a long illness. Born in Queensland, Matt came to live in Wollongong in 1964 where he worked for Geoff Martin,
Old Bike Australasia5 min read
Buzz Box Old Bike News
2022 marks fifty years since the iconic 903cc Z1 arrived in Kawasaki showrooms and became an instant classic. To celebrate this milestone, organisers of the SIBBB are working on a fitting tribute to the Z1 over the Easter weekend. “We are confident o
Old Bike Australasia2 min read
BUZZ BOX Pheasant Wood’s big plans
The facility is owned by Steve Shelley, a highly successful businessman whose Aerocare business supplied ground handling staff to the aviation sector. Steve sold that business, and now owns Deputy, a cloud-based employee management with worldwide cli
Old Bike Australasia9 min read
How Suzuki Saved The Senior
When Suzuki pulled out of Grand Prix racing at the end of the 1968 season, it looked like the end of a story that had begun with the company’s first works entries for the 1960 Isle of Man TT. In fact, with Yamaha following suit and Honda already out
Old Bike Australasia9 min read
Bullnose
John Marston was a pillar of civic society in Victorian England, as owner of the largest japanning factory in the Black Country. This was a local speciality comprising a form of Oriental-inspired metal finishing then popular for various household tab
Old Bike Australasia7 min read
MEMORIES Of A Very Short (and Very Tight Boots)
My first recollection of motorcycles would have been well before WW2. Mr Pura was a local insurance agent. He collected premiums regularly for life assurance from mother and travelled on his Ner-a-Car. He was still riding it in the early 1950s when h
Old Bike Australasia1 min read
Win The Holiday Of Your Dreams with A $15,000 Voucher!
WITH COLLETTE, THE WORLD IS WITHIN YOUR REACH Since 1918 Collette have been creating extraordinary guided travel experiences. Collette tours come with benefits that take your guided travel experience to another level. Their inclusive packages provide
Old Bike Australasia5 min read
On Diplomatic Service
Kaye Ernest Donsky, far better known by his sobriquet Kaye Don, was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1891, to Polish parents. Educated in England, Kaye was more interested in motorcycles than academia and gained employment with the Avon Rubber Company in M
Old Bike Australasia7 min read
Walking The Dog
In fact, Ducati’s history goes back to 1925 when Bruno Ducati published a book, La sciarpa azzurra. Racconti marinareschi (The blue scarf. Seafaring tales). The following year Bruno along with his brothers, Marcello Cavalieri and Adriano established
Old Bike Australasia6 min read
Sole Survivor
Over the years there have been literally dozens of dirt-surfaced Short Circuit tracks in the Sydney area. Today there is but one; Nepean Raceway at Rickards Road, Castlereagh. The circuit celebrated its half-century in 2009, but the origins of the ve
Old Bike Australasia7 min read
YAMAHA V-MAX 1200 Outa myway1
To be fair, all the Japanese companies were testing the water with outsized offerings around this time. Suzuki had the GV1200GL, an 82-degree 1165cc V-4 sold as the Madura in USA. Kawasaki’s entry was the ZL900 Eliminator, a transverse four of 908cc,
Old Bike Australasia2 min read
Granville Bradshaw
During WW1 he worked on a number of aircraft engine projects, designing one of the first British radial aircraft engines that went into production. The 9 cylinder ABC Dragonfly radial was rushed into production before it was fully developed. Despite
Old Bike Australasia9 min read
Quaint And Quirky FLAT TWINS
The Indian Model O. William and Edwin Douglas got into the motorcycle business by accident, when a company they supplied castings too, Light Motors, went into receivership. Light Motors were probably the pioneers of fore and aft flat twins. The Dougl
Old Bike Australasia3 min read
2021 Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RS More of everything
That’s partly due to the all-new 3-cylinder engine, now displacing 1160cc and churning out 177hp (180PS) at 10,750 rpm. Combine that with a ready-to-ride weight of only 198kg (10kg lighter than the previous model), and you can see why it covers the g
Old Bike Australasia2 min read
Old BIKE Out'n'about
In October, members of the Tamborine Mountain HMCCQ visited 91-year-old Albert John Simmons (AJS) who joined the club, becoming the second current local member in his nineties. HMCCQ president Ken Tocker says, “Personally, I believe this ‘event’ of c
Old Bike Australasia6 min read
The Fleet Street Norton
It was a totally original bike, fitted with a rear rack made in London by Craven, with one of their fibreglass top cases to suit. On my next visit, I collected the Norton and spent a few days breezing around the place. It certainly was a pleasant mac
Old Bike Australasia3 min read
The Loneliness Of The Lockdown
Homeless was on his 1967 Moto Guzzi V7, with me on my 1988 BMW R100 and Tall Phil on his 2003 BMW GS. It had been a blissful winter’s journeying through Queensland’s South Burnett and Darling Downs, adhering to our modus operandi of backroads and loo
Old Bike Australasia1 min read
From Small Beginnings…
Each of the brands had three main styles; rigid frame, rigid frame with front suspension, or front and rear suspension. Swingarms and torque converters came a little later. When they finally had reached their peak, the Japanese had entered the market
Old Bike Australasia1 min read
FOM Supports A Good Cause
The event raised $4,225 to help fund vital research and support the PhD candidates of SAHMRI, assisting them to become the future leaders of health and medical research. Khalia Primer, a University of Adelaide PhD candidate researching the vascular c
Old Bike Australasia1 min read
Gary’s FLASH BACK
Gary Reid has delved into his archives from 1972, and the 1972 Castrol Six Hour Race marked the track debut of the new Ducati 750 GT. Two were on the grid; the #8 machine entered by Ron Angel Tuning for Ken Blake, and the #18 entered by Fraser Motorc
Old Bike Australasia2 min read
Done And Dusted
For the final round of the 2021 Historic Club Championships, the weather was perfect and the racing was top notch across all of the classes. The largest field of the day, 23 riders fronted the starter in the P6 250 Production/P6 250 GP/P6 125GP and t
Old Bike Australasia1 min read
Feet Up In Queensland
40 Classic, Twinshock and Air-cooled Monoshock riders fronted for what was to be the Australian Championships, but due to Covid border restrictions the event was renamed. The name change did not detract from the quality of the event, with riders trea
Old Bike Australasia2 min read
Barossa Bikes Blast Back
After the disappointment of 2020, when Covid forced the cancellation of the event, the Barossa Vintage Collingrove Hillclimb was back again in 2021. Border closures meant no interstate entries, so nine motorcycles and 31 cars made several attempts to
Old Bike Australasia1 min read
Seeing Red
Helping to commemorate the onehundredth anniversary of the Moto Guzzi company, a small but enthusiastic group of Guzzi owners was recruited at the last minute to enter and display their bikes in the Auto Italiano Concorso event of the annual SA Itali
Old Bike Australasia1 min read
Not the National BSA Rally
The following words are from Rick Gardner, President BSA Motorcycle Owners Association. “Welcome to the BSA Weekend and Dinner. We have had a few downgrades due to COVID restrictions, however the BSA Club Committee have held their ground and organize
Old Bike Australasia2 min read
Triumph Over Adversity
Just four days after regional NSW was opened up (for fully vaccinated people), the diehards from the VMCC gathered in the Central West for the much anticipated Annual Rally, albeit a year late. As if the pandemic had not tested everyone’s resolve, th
Old Bike Australasia4 min read
Vets At Play
Sweeping roads that snake their way through hills, valleys and forests, punctuated with unique and historic towns, and the company of kindred spirits. These were the hallmarks of the recently-run Veteran Rally held in WA, which rose from the ashes of
Old Bike Australasia3 min read
Moto Monto
When the proposed 2021 Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club National Rally in October at Bendigo Victoria was postponed until March 2022 due to Covid, many Queensland members had already taken annual leave to attend. So it was decided to have a Queenslan
Old Bike Australasia2 min read
Smokers And Pipsqueaks
From its incarnation as the Stinkwheel Rally by John Finglas, the Twoies and Tiddlers baton was later passed to Ralph Roles who opened up the rally to include small capacity 4-strokes (Tiddlers). Ralph has had some recent medical issues that have put
Old Bike Australasia3 min read
A Doggie Day Out
Blessed with good weather and a COVID green light, the 2021 Don Nicol Memorial Sidecar Circus saw a very big roll-up at the HMCCQ Pine Rivers Clubhouse with around 28 outfits, and as many two-wheelers to do the marshalling. The rally was co-ordinated
Old Bike Australasia2 min read
Not the National Rally
Sadly with the COVID19 closing state borders and restricting the ability to hold the Vincent Clubs’ national rally we decided to defer the 2020 2021 rally yet again to 2022. However, for the sake of our SA members, and anyone who could attend, we dec
Old Bike Australasia3 min read
Good Gear New Products For All Bikers
The Predator Motorcycle & Powersport range of batteries are designed to provide superior starting power and dependable performance to any motorcycle enthusiasts of all ages. The comprehensive range has sizes to suit almost every classic and modern bi
Old Bike Australasia2 min read
Spyda’s Guide to New Zealand Motorcycle Road Racing Circuits
250 pages paperback ISBN: 978-0-473-57016-3 (Softcover) NZ$54 978-0-473-57025-5 (Touring Edition/Wire-bound) NZ$59 Publishers contact: nzmccircuitguide@gmail.com Wanganui-born Graeme ‘Spyda’ Staples has been hanging around road racing circuits ever s
Old Bike Australasia3 min read
A FREE EVENT LISTING FOR CLUBS & ORGANISATIONS
CLUB SECRETARIES: Because of our lead time for printing, please ensure your listing is received at least four months prior to the event. Email your event details to… scaysbrook34@bigpond.com 6 February 2022 – Melbourne Victoria Details from John Matt
Old Bike Australasia2 min readAddiction
Edgar: Ace Of The Ovals
One popular method of promoting brands was the Cigarette Card – a token included with every packet of gaspers – and eagerly collected by devotees. The faster you smoked, the more cards you collected, and duplicates could be traded with fellow tragics

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