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.

Old Bike Australasia

A silver lining

BLOW YOUR OWN • LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

CLASSIC COB • OUT IN THE SHED

Festival of Motorcycling restructured

Queensland says “Let’s Race”

Matt’s Husky heads to GOMA

Wakefield’s grand plans

Royal Enfield 650 success

Australian Historic Road Race Championships postponed

Ride Support launches

The Bulli we had to have

Indefatigable Des

Townsville track progressing

Dave ‘TC’ Morris

Warren Hicks

Doug Chivas

John Strauss

50% SIGHT, 50% HEARING, 100% ENTHUSIASM. • With the recent passing of Glen Britza, the motorcycling community of WA lost a man who was a popular and passionate contributor to the sport throughout his lifetime, both on and off the track. Glen passed away on 27th June 2020 after a short illness.

MIGHTY MATCHLESS A fleeting example • While it appears that the single cylinder Matchless – in sizes from 250cc to 500cc – changed little in its more than three decades as part of the model range emanating from the factory in Plumstead, London, there were subtle refinements.

UFO alert • 1927 witnessed the maiden flight of Count Giovanni Agusta’s Ag2 monoplane which was reportedly the first “sport” aircraft designed and built in Italy. Unfortunately he passed away later that year leaving the family to run Construzione Aeronautiche Giovanni Agusta.

A teutonic Terrier • What has one cylinder, three conrods, and can live with engines almost twice its size? The answer is an unorthodox looking little four stroke single produced by NSU from 1952 to 1963 – the Max, Spezialmax, Supermax, or in its ultimate, racing form, the Sportmax.

A family affair Owen Park Wallan, Victoria • Scrambles had long been the Cinderella side of the sport, but by the time the ‘seventies dawned, that had well and truly changed. For one thing, Scrambles had become universally known as Motocross, at least to everyone except the august powers of the state and national ruling bodies in Australia. And while most states got by with a handful of circuits, Victoria was virtually awash with scrambles tracks. As the ‘seventies dawned, the state boasted tracks at Packenham, Christmas Hills, Campbells Creek, Beaconsfield, Nery, Sunbury, Ravenswood, Cranbourne, Pearcedale, Barrabool, Arthurs Creek, Bacchus Marsh and Morwell – all regularly promoting open meetings with healthy fields. So did Victoria need yet another scrambles/motocross circuit? Ray Owen thought so, and Ray’s opinion counted.

Jewel in the crown

MAKE HASTE, SLOWLY • Some, perhaps most, motorcyclists make their reputations for going very fast. Norm Aldridge was a more-than-handy scrambles rider, but it was his uncanny ability to ride at little more than walking pace, where balance and throttle control really counted, that gained him a string of championships in the ‘Feet-up” scene.

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Getting a SWELLED HEAD • It was touted as Royal Enfield’s “Gold Star”, and it was certainly a step in the right direction from the reliable but rather tepid performance offered by the standard 500cc Bullet.

Burt’s other Bike THE WORLD’S FASTEST VELOCETTE • In 2010 Stuart Hooper achieved 139mph on his beautifully streamlined, 700cc Velocette, at Lake Gairdner (South Australia), beating the previous...