Old Bike Australasia

Old Bike magazine is a must for those who ride as well as the dedicated enthusiast and rebuilder, covering everything from Vintage to early 1980s bikes - marvel at the restoration of machines that could still sit proudly on the showroom floor. Each issue brings you the latest news and results from recent events, race reports and Rally Roundup, along with new and old bike news and reviews, readers letters, Club Directory, What’s On and much, much more.

EDITOR’S LETTER

Old Bike Australasia • NUMBER 84

BLOW YOUR OWN LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Draggin Jeans Best Letter

LETTERS ADDRESS

CLASSIC COB OUT IN THE SHED

Festival of Speed takes shape

International Challenge teams announced

Pukekohe ready to fire

Kawasaki and Bimota get hitched

Big things in Invercargill

Titles head to Mac Park

Rare Harley up for auction

Tasmanian museum relocates

NZ Show dates announced

Bathurst circuit progress

Peter Molloy

Vic Nicholson

Eric Harrison

Trevor Pound

Ken Kavanagh

Grand Prix pioneer • Since the advent of the World Championships in 1949, getting aboard a works machine has always been the quickest path to success. At the age of 38, Eric McPherson became the first Australian to gain a post-war works ride when he saddled up for AJS and went on to equal-third place in the inaugural 350cc title.

GOING FORKLESS • Standardisation is a concept that sits uneasily with those of the fertile and inquiring mind. It was the attraction of Ducati’s V-twin in a sea of UJM (Universal Japanese Motorcycle) four cylinder machines that made the Italian machine so attractive to people who wanted something a little different. But even there, the standardisation of the modern motorcycle chassis – swinging arm rear suspension, telescopic, hydraulic front fork – was common virtually across the range.

TWO TAKES ON A big single • By the mid ‘eighties, both Yamaha and Honda offered a big banger cafe racer along the traditional British lines. Although they achieved only modest success on the sales front at the time, today the SRX600 is regarded as a real classic…

A motorcycle for gentlemen • Mention Gilera and most people think of the exotic four cylinder racers that began in the 1920s as the GRB Rondine (Swallow) – a double overhead camshaft four cylinder, supercharged design set across the frame, with water cooling, which by the outbreak of WW2 was putting out 80 horsepower and capable of 140 mph.

Tassie tearaways • In 1974, a little known sidecar team from Tasmania made headlines by winning at their first attempt at Bathurst, beating the fancied Bayliss team and other big names.

The red dust devil Lake Perkolilli WA • Held over four days in September 2019, the Red Dust Revival was a unique event that sought to capture the spirit of our early motor racing pioneers on this lakebed near the fringe of the Great Victoria Desert in Western Australia.

MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMP • Sometimes being ordinary can be a good thing. In the case of Honda’s CB350, a very good thing.

CZECH MATES • Bryan Fowler takes a visit to a couple of Jawa/CZ motorcycle museums in the Czech Republic.

Yamaha FJR1300 AE Dutch treat • An opportunity to escape from the OBA editorial office is something that cannot be ignored, so when our friends at Yamaha indicated that an FJR1300 – probably my favourite all-round motorcycle – may be available for collection at the company’s European headquarters in Amsterdam, the wheels started turning, literally and figuratively.

Zorros goes Crazyhorse • Welcome to Old Bike Australasia Out’n’about – a forum of people, places, history and happenings.

Gary's FLASH BACK

Down on the Murray

That poster...